• Vaccinations reduce transmissions as a result
• Vaccinations work in preventing disease, reducing severity
• People with breakthrough infections shed virus for a shorter period of time

By Kelum Bandara

A top medical expert of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said viral load of people with breakthrough infections of COVID-19 - infections after vaccination -  is much less, and therefore it leads to reduced transmissions from the disease from them.

WHO Director of the Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals Dr. Kate O’ Brien, in her recent Science in 5 programme with Vismita Gupta-Smith, said vaccines are really effective against prevention of disease  and in reducing severity of the disease in the event of one getting infected (breakthrough infections).
However, she said vaccination does not mean 100 per cent of people are protected one hundred per cent of the time. She said no vaccine had such protection against any disease. 

“Vaccines we have against COVID-19 are incredibly effective vaccines. It does not mean people are going to be protected 100 per cent of the time,” she said.  
The experts emphasised that  people infected after vaccination, an uncommon phenomenon, shed  virus for a shorter period of time than unvaccinated people. She said density of virus is much less in them and it results in reduced transmissions.

Ask how frequent breakthrough infections are after full course of vaccination, she such cases are not reported equally among different groups of people.

“Vaccines operate in a couple of different ways. First, they prevent people from getting disease at all. Even when the disease does occur among people who are fully vaccinated, the severity of that disease is less,” she said.
The WHO expert noted that breakthrough infections occur because people stop other interventions.  She called for vaccinations and other measures for prevention of the disease in the world, where most people are yet to access vaccines.

• Vaccines we have against COVID-19 are incredibly effective vaccines. It does not mean people are going to be protected 100 per cent of the time