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© Julia Lazarova
Prof. Dr. Andrey Chorbanov
Renowned Bulgarian doctors and immunologists have created a misconception about the effect of the coronavirus vaccine, stating to the media that it protects not only from disease but also from the spread of infection. Such claims are based on experience with previous vaccines and the unusually high efficacy of those for coronavirus. But specifically for the two already approved in the EU there is no documentary evidence from both its creators and its regulators warn of this.
“Dnevnik” wrote on this occasion in late 2020 after a speech in this spirit by the Minister of Health. But that conversation continues and creates a dangerous idea of what vaccinated people can do in society about a month after the first injection, that is. the period in which the immune defense is built.
Calls for each vaccinated to not comply with the restrictions are also inconsistent with the test data, with an efficacy of about 95%, it is clear, and described in detail, that 5% of those vaccinated are still infected with COVID-19.
“Yes, the vaccinated person does not get infected. And, more importantly, they do not get sick. We don’t need cured people, we need healthy people.” This was stated on Saturday on Nova TV by the vice president of the Bulgarian Medical Union. Dr. Nikolai Branzalov, which represents GPs in the manual.
“A sick person cannot infect because he himself does not get sick. He cannot infect another because the immunity he has prevents him from being infected again. And he cannot get sick without another person without getting sick himself.” said in late 2020 the deputy director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) Prof. Iva Hristova on the same television.
“I think it is extremely provocative and false that vaccinated people continue to comply with the measures. So why are they vaccinated?” That’s what he asked Prof. Dr. Andrey Chorbanov of consultations with President Rumen Radev on holding secure parliamentary elections.
“The principle of the vaccinated is that they are protected: if they have a sufficient immune response, they cannot reproduce or spread any infection. The immunized person does not reproduce or spread any pathogens,” he continued. . And immediately afterwards he said that it is not known for how long the immunity of this vaccine is preserved, but if the protection is less than a year, it does not make sense to do so.
Chorbanov, who is director of the Department of Immunology at the Institute of Microbiology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, continued to repeat his thesis on the program “Bulgaria in the morning” on Bulgaria ON AIR TV. If a person is immunized and the vaccine is effective, he should be absolutely free, said the immunologist. When asked if he planned to get vaccinated now, he said he would wait because “it is sober common sense that we think the vaccine is a good thing, but specifically it needed a little more research.”
© Julia Lazarova
Dr. Nikolai Branzalov
And what do the regulators say?
In fact, world-renowned regulators explicitly say that there is not enough evidence that the Komirnati vaccine has stopped spreading the infection.
This is how the European Medicines Agency answers the question “Can Comirnaty reduce the transmission of the virus from one person to another?”:
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“The effect of vaccination with Comirnaty on the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community is currently unknown. The extent to which vaccinated people can continue to carry and spread the virus is not yet known.”
The same says the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is what the CDC writes:
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“Experts continue to conduct new research on the effect of vaccination on the severity of COVID-19 and the ability of the vaccine not to spread the virus that causes COVID-19.”
We did not find a specific answer to this question on the website of the Medicines Executive Agency. But the regulator in Italy has a list of questions and answers, including “Does vaccination allow you to return to normal life?” and answer:
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“Although the effectiveness of the COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA is very high (over 90%), there are always some who do not develop an immune response. Furthermore, it is not yet known whether vaccination protects only against diseases or the spread of So Therefore, vaccinated people are not allowed to live as before, but it is necessary to maintain adequate behavior and measures to contain the risk of infection. ”
The situation is the same with the Moderna vaccine approved this week. This is what is written in the Bulgarian brochure of the European Medicines Agency:
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- “The impact of vaccination with the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna vaccine on the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the public is not yet known. It is not yet known how many people who have received the vaccine can be carriers and spread the virus. “.
More clarity: after 6 to 12 months
In other words, the conversation about whether a vaccinated person can continue to infect other people is based on two types of immunity: spay and herd. But the Pfizer / BionTech and Moderna vaccines are not known to provide complete protection, that is. to stop the ability of the vaccinated to infect others, and it will take many more months and at least two-thirds of Bulgarians to be vaccinated to have any evidence of herd immunity.
If it turns out that the virus mutates rapidly and it is necessary to adapt vaccines (the creators say this is not a problem, it can be done in a month or two), this leads to a known scenario of influenza epidemics: each season will have to be puts the appropriate vaccine for COVID-19. And let’s not forget that flu vaccines protect 40-60% of those who get it, and even they can continue to spread the virus.
Ultimately, the severity of the infected person’s illness and when there will be generally accepted therapies is also important.
Here’s what the number of hospitalizations in the UK (weekly) looks like compared to flu epidemics since 2013:
There may be at least two explanations why we do not yet know the answer to the question of protection against the spread of infection. One is that the focus of the vaccine’s creators was to protect it from disease and make it safe for health. Information about the other items will be collected for at least 6 to 12 months, and maybe years. The second explanation is that the virus enters the body through the respiratory tract, where the lining blocks the access of antibodies to the coronavirus while it is “outside.” It depends on the amount and if these coronaviruses can multiply in the mucosa, but in the absence of a definitive response, it is assumed that a vaccinated carrier can expel the infection with any cough or sneeze.
