Study: Breakthrough infections that occur after full mRNA vaccination are less severe

[pnwmom]

than in people who haven't been vaccinated.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/954224?src=mkm_covid_update_210706_MSCPEDIT&uac=366090PG&impID=3489967&faf=1

(Reuters) - In the rare cases of COVID-19 that occur after vaccination, patients are likely to be sick for less time and have milder symptoms than if they were unvaccinated, according to a U.S. study of nearly 4,000 healthcare personnel, first responders, and other frontline workers.

In participants who were tested weekly since mid-December, COVID-19 has been diagnosed in five who were fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine from either Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna, 11 who were partially protected, having received either one shot or were less than 14 days out from their second, and 156 who were unvaccinated, the researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Most unvaccinated patients were sick for at least two weeks, compared with only one week for vaccinated patients. Patients who were fully or partially vaccinated had 58% lower odds of fever and spent an average of 2.3 fewer days in bed than unvaccinated patients. Their viral loads also averaged 40% lower.

"If you get vaccinated, about 90% of the time you're not going to get COVID-19," coauthor Dr. Jeff Burgess of the University of Arizona said in a statement. "Even if you do get it, there will be less of the virus in you and your illness is likely to be much milder."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3yeEFHC The New England Journal of Medicine, online June 30, 2021.

[Ms. Toad]

1. Way too small to be useful to predict severity.

In participants who were tested weekly since mid-December, COVID-19 has been diagnosed in five who were fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine from either Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna, 11 who were partially protected, having received either one shot or were less than 14 days out from their second, and 156 who were unvaccinated, the researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Most unvaccinated patients were sick for at least two weeks, compared with only one week for vaccinated patients. Patients who were fully or partially vaccinated had 58% lower odds of fever and spent an average of 2.3 fewer days in bed than unvaccinated patients. Their viral loads also averaged 40% lower.

You really can't make valid predictions based on a group of 5 (fully vaccinated) - or even 16, counting the partially vaccinated. And the control group of 156 is pretty darn small, as well.

[pnwmom]

2. Good point, thanks. nt

[dpibel]

3. Study size is 4,000

"In the rare cases of COVID-19 that occur after vaccination, patients are likely to be sick for less time and have milder symptoms than if they were unvaccinated, according to a U.S. study of nearly 4,000 healthcare personnel, first responders, and other frontline workers."

The numbers you're quoting are the number who had a COVID-19 diagnosis, not the number of participants.

[BannonsLiver]

4. Yeah. I noticed that too. It's vaguely positive so it must be discredited, questioned, criticized.

Anything that runs counter to the doom narrative is problematic.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Distressing

Isn't it?

[BannonsLiver]

6. That's one word for it Professor!

[Ms. Toad]

8. You need a bit more basic mathematical fluency.

I made essentially the same comment here, when the outcome goes the other direction.

I am data driven, not outcome driven.

[Calculating]

12. It's almost like some people are addicted to the doom

..

[Ms. Toad]

7. Correct - but they are predicting severity in comparison to unvaccinated

(on factors such as length of hospitalization) on 5, or at most, 16 cases.

One 4000 cases might be enough to evaluate whether or not breakthrough cases resulted in hospitalization or death, but comparing those five (or at most 16) cases to those in vaccinated people, to evaluate how the length of hospitalization in those few cases in which hospitalization is required compares to hospitalization the unvaccinated is not statistically valid.

A length of five individual hospital stays does not really give any indication of how long a typical stay would be. A single long stay below the average stay completely out of proportion. The outliers are only moderated when there are sufficient number of cases to absorb the impact of those outliers of the average.

[Blue_true]

9. For human populations, that is a small sample size.

Britain’s NHS did a much larger population study that arrived at the same conclusion, breakthrough cases in people who were not immune-compromised were mild when compared to unvaccinated people.

[Hugin]

11. I'd really rather not get the 'rona at all.

Thanks.