As a fourth wave of the coronavirus grips Louisiana, a new anxiety plagues those who thought they were home free: Some vaccinated people are getting sick.
Though not unexpected and rarely serious, infections among the inoculated can be a jarring for those who thought the vaccine meant they couldn't contract or spread the virus.
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State statistics show that a small fraction of new cases – fewer than 8% - are in fully vaccinated individuals. Among patients who are hospitalized, about 11% have been fully immunized.
With infection rates nearing all time highs, however, a small percentage of a large total can be a big number.
“It remains true that the vaccines are doing a very good job of preventing severe disease, but 95% [protection] is not 100% and that 5% balance becomes a much bigger deal if COVID quintuples out there,” said Dr. Joe Kanter, state health officer for the Louisiana Department of Health.
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The aggressive spread of delta variant may be fueling the anecdotal experience of many – friends and acquaintances are testing positive for the virus, despite receiving all their shots. Experts are now recommending that with the more aggressive variant circulating wildly in the community, even those who are vaccinated should be taking basic precautions like wearing masks to limit their exposure.
No vaccination is 100% effective, and the high levels of coronavirus now circulating mean there may have been many chances for any given individual to be exposed in recent weeks.
“If you interact in a way with the broad population that's largely unvaccinated in crowded settings for an extended period of time, you may acquire 20 exposures in the course of one evening at a bar,” said Susan Hassig, an epidemiologist at Tulane University. “So you know, it's like ... are you feeling lucky tonight?”
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That’s particularly true as delta finds a foothold in a state where fewer than 37% of residents have completed their vaccination series.
The current wave is overtaking Louisiana faster than any of the three that came before. The state reported an additional 4,043 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number over the last seven days to 18,000.
That’s 11 times as many cases as were reported just four weeks ago, a growth rate two to three times as fast as anything seen during the pandemic so far. The statewide count is now close to the all-time high of 20,965 cases per week recorded in early January.
As COVID-19 cases surge in Louisiana among unvaccinated people, the inevitable is occurring: some vaccinated people are also getting sick.
Hospitalizations are also rising at a dramatic pace, nearly quintupling in the last month. They stood at 1,390 on Monday – the most recent reporting available – after jumping by 165 from the day before, the largest increase the state has seen since the first weeks of the pandemic.
While the common understanding may be that vaccines confer immunity from the coronavirus, the trials before the shots were approved were specifically designed to test for symptomatic infections and serious illnesses.
In a real-world scenario, that means that the vaccine may be doing its job – boosting the immune response to prevent severe illness – but still resulting in some people testing positive with few or no symptoms.
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No amount of vaccine can keep someone from being exposed to a virus, said Dr. Gregory Bix, director of the COVID-19 Biobank and Library at Tulane University. “What it can do is keep it from significantly replicating in your body and causing serious illness.”
Dr. Jay Kolls, who worked on vaccine clinical trials for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is also surging in Louisiana, said that research showed that vaccinated patients might get an infection in their nose, but it would not spread to the lungs where it could cause serious illness.
That’s a key point, since a patient in that position would be able to fight off the infection with the help of the vaccine, but would still test positive on a nasal swab.
Kolls said statistics coming out on the vaccines' effectiveness are actually more encouraging than he was expecting. Statewide, only 9% of recent deaths were among fully vaccinated residents, state officials said.
At LCMC Health, about 10% of COVID patients are fully vaccinated, said Dr. Jeffrey Elder, the hospital chain's director of emergency management. And in most of those cases, the patients have underlying issues, such as a weakened immune system, that may be playing a role in the severity of their infection, he said.
Elder also said the average age of unvaccinated patients is 50 years old, while vaccinated patients tend to be in their 70s, 80s or 90s.
That comes as 80% of the population over 70 years old is immunized.
“You’re not seeing younger people in the hospital who are vaccinated,” Elder said.
Emily Woodruff contributed to this report.
COVID cases in vaccinated people alarm residents - but not doctors - NOLA.com
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