Covid illness less "severe" for vaccinated islanders

Thursday 18 February 2021

It has been confirmed that some islanders who received both doses of a Covid-19 have since contracted the virus, as Public Health stressed that the primary aim of the vaccination programme is to reduce the risk of severe illness, not to prevent transmission altogether.

Responding to questions at yesterday's briefing, the Director of Public Health said some vaccinated people have gone on to catch corona virus.

“Yes, there are people who are vaccinated who have caught Covid,” confirmed Dr Nicola Brink.

“We’ve had people who have been fully vaccinated who have caught the virus."

Pictured: Dr Brink was speaking at the Civil Contingencies Authority's latest media briefing. 

It has previously been confirmed that a small number of people locally have caught covid twice, but it’s the first time we’ve had confirmation of vaccinated people catching the virus.

Re-infection cases in the UK have been recorded as being less severe than a first bout of the virus. Meanwhile, data on the effects of the vaccination on transmission is only just starting to be recorded. 

Studies are ongoing into how effective the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are against the UK and South African variants that have emerged since they first went into development.

A study by Pfizer, reported by Reuters last night, suggests that the South African variant may reduce antibody protection from their vaccine by two-thirds. Meanwhile, Oxford University researchers who developed the AstraZeneca vaccine say it remains effective against the UK Variant, which was recently confirmed in Guernsey. 

“The primary aim [of the vaccination programme] is not to avoid transmission," said Dr Brink. "There’s data now available that the vaccine will reduce transmission, but it’s not thought to be 100%."

Pictured: “The aim of the vaccination programme is to prevent covid-associated morbidity and mortality,” said Dr Brink.

We are told that those who have caught the virus post-vaccine have not suffered badly with the virus.

“None of them have been severely unwell,” said Dr Brink, “so that’s important.”