New Delhi: The Covid virus has changed and immunity from previous COVID-19 vaccination has waned, putting the health of even the double-vaccinated people at great risk.
There are several factors, including waning immune protection and low uptake of boosters, along with changes in immunity among the unvaccinated.
FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said last week that the more people who keep up to date on Covid-19 vaccinations, “the more benefit there will be for individuals, families and public health by helping prevent severe illnesses, hospitalisations and deaths.”
The advice came as a Washington Post analysis last month found that more vaccinated people are now dying of the Covid disease and 58 per cent of coronavirus deaths in August in the US “were people who were vaccinated or boosted”.
The report added: “In September 2021, vaccinated people made up just 23 per cent of coronavirus fatalities. In January and February this year, it was up to 42 per cent.”
Deaths among vaccinated people is increasing due to waning efficacy of Covid vaccines and “increasingly contagious strains of the virus being spread to elderly and immunocompromised people” among those who have taken at least one vaccine dose.
“We can no longer say this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said Kaiser Family Foundation vice president Cynthia Cox, who conducted the analysis on behalf of the Washington Post.
Although some researchers, like Dr David Weber, an infectious disease specialist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said “it’s a true but inaccurate statement”.
Dr Weber added: “It would be like saying most deaths in car crashes come with people wearing seat belts. That’s because almost everyone wears seat belts. The correct statement is, how many lives do seat belts save? And that would be the correct statement for the vaccines.” He was quoted by www.cbs17.com.
Outgoing White House Chief Medical Adviser, Anthony Fauci has emphasised the safety and efficacy of the approved Covid vaccines in preventing severe illness and deaths, encouraging people to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.
“My message, and my final message, maybe the final message I give you from this podium, is that please, for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated Covid-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible to protect yourself, your family and your community,” Fauci said.
Older people were always especially vulnerable and now make up a higher proportion of Covid fatalities than ever before in the pandemic, reports Scientific American.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a nearly 90 per cent drop in recent Covid-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago, but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as new variants continue to rise.
