Is a person infectious after being vaccinated against coronavirus

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

A kind of controversy erupted in the media on the topic: after vaccination against coronavirus, is a person infectious to others. Some sources refer to the categorical opinions of authority figures from the medical department, while others refer to the opinions of infectious disease specialists who claim the opposite, which runs counter to the official point of view.

What is the essence of the controversy

Oksana Drapkina, chief freelance specialist in therapy and general medical practice of the Ministry of Health of Russia, back in November 2020, denied possible innuendo on the topic of whether a person is contagious to others after being vaccinated against coronavirus.

The symptoms that appear after the injection of the drug are not signs of the presence of a pathogen in the body, but the reaction of the immune system to the injected protein fragment. This applies not only to drugs created on the basis of the achievements of molecular biology, but also to a new development with a killed pathogen.

Such a vaccine is undergoing the registration process in Russia. Most modern vaccines work according to the latter principle, and they, giving characteristic signs, do not lead to infection of others.

O. Drapkina explained that preferential vaccination on the territory of the Russian Federation is carried out by the world's first registered composition for immunization against COVID-19. It is recognized by respected medical communities and has passed 3 stages of clinical trials. There are no virus particles in "Sputnik-V", there are artificially synthesized fragments of the thorn, to which the reaction of the immune system develops.

A kind of opponent of O. Drapkina turned out to be E. Timakov, an infectious disease practitioner, who said that a person after vaccination can be a source of infection, since there is still a small risk of getting sick. The disease will be so mild that the patient may not even be aware of the infection and pose a danger to healthy people in his environment.

People who read the catchy headline and first lines of the message were convinced of the possibility of infection even from a person who was vaccinated. However, they did not read exactly in which cases O. Drapkina's opponent suggests such a possibility.

When there is a chance of infection

The vaccine against COVID-19, which is made by the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine, cannot by itself be the cause of coronavirus infection, for the simple reason that the drug does not contain the pathogen itself - in none of the options:

• a fragment of a thorn for which immunity is developed was synthesized in a laboratory;
• fragments of adenovirus are vectors that cannot reproduce.

The speculations on this topic posted in Moskovsky Komsomolets look convincing, but only in the eyes of an amateur. They are also mixed with allegations that the production of the vaccine may fail, in which live virions will get into the drug.

In the same publication, there is a link to an anonymous source, claiming that a person who has received vaccination on the adenovirus vector can become its source. According to the infectious disease doctor Timakov, the answer to the question of whether a person is contagious to others after being vaccinated against a coronavirus, even with the complexity of the development of such a situation, depends entirely on other factors.

Danger after vaccination

A person who has been vaccinated against coronavirus can test for the presence of COVID-19 in the body or antibodies that have already been developed to it. Their presence means that the person has been in contact or has been ill in a mild form.

In the second case, he will receive a vaccine if a lot of time has passed since the alleged infection. But he may be sick with another infection, for which testing has not been carried out (for example, SARS or flu) and take the symptoms of the disease for the body's reaction to an injection of an immunizing drug.

In this case, he will act as a source of infection and will be dangerous to others. And precisely because of the loss of vigilance, and not because the vaccine contains unkilled virions or the adenovirus vector, it suddenly began to multiply and be transmitted by airborne droplets.

Evgeny Timakov urged those who underwent immunoprophylaxis to closely monitor their condition, to inform the doctor about all the symptoms that have appeared. Don't think that the coronavirus vaccine works in all directions. There are many other infections in the world with similar symptoms, so even a person vaccinated with Sputnik-V can become infected with another pathogen and transmit it to family and friends.

There is a second scenario, the likelihood of which has already been clearly demonstrated. Having received two injections of the drug, you need to wait a certain time for the formation of stable immunity. Some patients immediately after the second injection consider themselves completely safe and do not follow preventive measures.

Since vaccinations are given to people who have not previously been ill, the likelihood of infection before normal life is still high and is half the percentage - sick or stayed healthy.

Outcomes

It is impossible to get sick from the injected vaccine. In Russia, "Sputnik-V" is inoculated, the drug consists of an artificially synthesized fragment of the genotype. Vaccination implies a certain period before the formation of immunity: you can get sick in this interval. You can get another infection and mistake its symptoms for the effects of vaccination. It is imperative to inform the doctor about any symptoms after vaccination.