UPDATE: COVID-19 breakthrough cases

Research shows virus affects vaccinated people differently.

Since the COVID-19 vaccines began getting administered there have been reports of fully vaccinated people testing positive for the coronavirus.

Researchers and public health experts anticipated these ‘breakthrough cases,’ which occur when a fully vaccinated person (who received their second vaccine dose more than two weeks ago) tests positive for the virus.

Breakthrough cases are expected with mass vaccination programs.

With more research available, researchers are gaining a greater understanding of these cases and how they’re affected by the virus.

Recently, a team at University of Arizona Health Sciences compiled data from 3,975 people of various vaccination status.

Of that group, five fully vaccinated people tested positive for COVID-19 compared to 157 unvaccinated people. It’s also noted that 11 partially vaccinated people became infected.

Of those five breakthrough cases, researchers were able to determine that the coronavirus viral load was 40 percent less in those subjects than in the nonvaccinated participants.

Research has suggested that the illness’ viral load (the amount of the virus found in a sample) directly relates to the severity of symptoms the patient experiences, along with their risk of further transmitting the virus — meaning the data suggests that infected vaccinated people’s symptoms are very likely to be much more mild, if they experience any at all.

Additionally, the virus in breakthrough cases is able to be detected for one week or less, as opposed to an unvaccinated person, whose infection is detectable for two weeks or more.

The medical community and public health experts welcomed the arrival of the safe and effective vaccines and urge all eligible people to get one as a means of ending the pandemic.

The mRNA technology, which is the basis for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, has been shown to be 91 percent effective against infection, while also protecting against variant strains of the virus.