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Researchers from California have found in a new study that Corona vaccine protection is increasingly declining due to mutations such as the delta variant. As a result, the effectiveness of vaccinations is said to have dropped by nearly 40 percent in the past year.
The findings were published in the journal Science.
Efficacy of Johnson & Johnson plummeted
The study shows above all that the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has declined sharply. With this variant, only one vaccine dose is needed for immunization. For example, the researchers found that efficacy dropped from 86.4 percent in March 2021 to just 13 percent in September.
For the study, the scientists monitored the health status of more than 780,000 U.S. veterans who had received one of the three Corona vaccines available in the United States. Overall, vaccine breakthrough protection dropped from 87.9 percent in February 2021 to 48.1 percent in October.
What is vaccine breakthrough?
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), vaccine breakthrough is when a person becomes infected with Corona despite being immunized against the virus. According to the RKI, no vaccine is 100 percent effective.
“Thus, a vaccine breakthrough would occur, for example, if a person who received their second vaccination several months ago now becomes infected with SARS-CoV-2 (positive PCR test) and develops, for example, a sore throat and fever,” the RKI further explained.
The decline in efficacy was less dramatic for vaccines with two doses of vaccine, according to the study. The study authors determined that Corona protection from the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine declined from 86.9 percent to 43.3 percent over the year.
Patients immunized with Moderna fared even better, with the vaccine’s effectiveness against breakthrough infections dropping from 89.2 percent to 58 percent.
Pfizer and Moderna best protect against a fatal course
Although current Corona vaccines may not be as effective at protecting against infection as they were at the start of 2021, they still save the majority of patients from death, according to the study.
The researchers note that the vaccines’ protection against fatal cases of Corona is highest in people younger than 65, but is still strong in older people.
Overall, protection against fatal Corona infection remains at 81.7 percent in vaccinated people younger than 65.
In younger people, Pfizer’s vaccine provides the best protection against fatal complications (84.3 percent), followed by Moderna (81.5 percent) and Johnson & Johnson (73 percent).
For people 65 and older, the vaccines prevent death from Corona 71.6 percent of the time.
Moderna remains the best option for seniors, preventing death in 75.5 percent of cases. The efficacy of the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine in seniors dropped to 70.1 percent and that of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to 52.2 percent.
The researchers point out that the risk of death from Corona infection remains highest in the unvaccinated, regardless of their age or pre-existing health conditions.
Although some breakthrough cases can still lead to death in vaccinated individuals, the team of experts noted that current vaccines still prevent most patients from dying from delta variant.
- source: k.at/picture:pixabay.com
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