COVID-19 Despite Being Jabbed Twice, Why?

People getting infected with COVID-19 despite receiving two doses of the vaccine is leading to doubts among those who now have yet another reason for not getting jabbed. What is the use? they are asking.

However, the medical fraternity is sticking to its guns advising one and all to get vaccinated. Encouraged people to take the jab despite cases of infection post the shots, Dr. RK Dhiman, Director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) said that vaccines were very effective in preventing hospitalisation as well as deaths and even reinfected, the symptoms were mild. Both he and his wife had tested positive despite having received both doses of the vaccine, News18 reported.

Both, the vice-chancellor of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Lt Prof Bipin Puri and the medical superintendent and COVID-19 and communicable disease specialist, Dr D Himanshuwas were reinfected after taking his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, yet they vouched for it.

These are called “breakthrough cases.”

“You will see breakthrough infections in any vaccination when you’re vaccinating literally tens and tens and tens of millions of people. So in some respects, that’s not surprising,” Anthony Fauci, America’s top scientist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was quoted as saying at a COVID-19 briefing recently.

Imperfect administration of the vaccine and weak immune response in a person could be some of the reasons for the reinfection. Mishandling of the vaccine, not maintaining the required temperature or administering it in the wrong part of the arm could lead to reinfection. Exposure to infection before the second jab could also become a reason, experts warn.

Admitting that one may still get the infection after the vaccination, AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, in a conversation with CNN-News18 said that one may still get the infection after the vaccination, but he or she will be asymptomatic or it will be a mild illness. He also said that the immunity from the current vaccines may last for 9-12 months.

Dr VK Paul, a core member of the central government’s Covid-19 response team, has advised people to wear masks for a “long time” despite the vaccine to protect themselves. “We can have all the vaccines in the world but we will, for a long time, need masks to protect us,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.