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One in 25 people hospitalized with Covid-19 since December has received at least one dose of vaccine, and most have been infected shortly before or shortly after vaccination, before immunity had had time to develop.
However, few of those who developed symptoms did so more than 2 weeks after receiving the first dose, indicating that vaccines help prevent serious illness once they have had time to work.
The data, presented to the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), could be one more indication that people are letting their guard down once they’ve taken a hit, mistakenly assuming they’re immediately protected.
Alternative explanations include the possibility that they were infected shortly before vaccination, during the vaccination appointment itself, or that the vaccination triggered symptoms in previously asymptomatic infected people.
In the minutes of its 83rd meeting on March 11, Sage said: “The observation that significant numbers of people develop symptoms within days of a first dose may suggest some behavior change after vaccination. Therefore, it is important that communications around vaccination reinforce the need for safe behaviors. “
Almost 29 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine so far, and it is believed that some degree of immune protection will develop around two weeks after receiving the first puncture, although one is needed. second dose to achieve the highest levels of protection.
According to data sent to Sage by the Covid-19 Clinical Information Network (CO-CIN), there were 1,802 registered cases of vaccinated patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in the UK as of March 5. This accounted for 4.2% (1,802 / 42,788) of all Covid-related hospital admissions since December 8, the date the first people in the UK were vaccinated.
The median time between vaccination and the onset of symptoms for these patients was five days, indicating that most of them were infected shortly before or around the time of vaccination, and the rest were infected after vaccination. but before immunity developed.
“The elderly and vulnerable people they had been protecting may have been inadvertently exposed and infected, either through the end-to-end vaccination process or shortly after vaccination through behavioral changes in which they mistakenly assume they are immune, “the CO-CIN report said.
Data from past vaccine releases, national surveys and evidence from Israel have also indicated that people are less likely to abide by social distancing rules once they have been vaccinated.
At their March 11 meeting, Sage emphasized the need for better government communication on how long the jab takes to work, and that while the Covid-19 vaccines in use in the UK are highly effective, no vaccine is 100% effective. . The minutes of the meeting read: “Some people will be hospitalized with Covid-19 even after completing their full vaccination program. It will be particularly important to monitor the prevalence of different variants present in this group by sequencing to understand any possible immune escapes. This is being done by Public Health England. “
A separate document released by Sage on Friday suggested that there has been a four-fold increase in confirmed cases of the Brazilian P1 variant during the fortnight of March 10 to March 24 from 5 to 21, while cases of the South African variant they have increased from 190 to 305.
