KUCHING: Vaccines are not foolproof as its effectiveness depends on the individual’s immune system, said Prof Hsu Li Yang as reported by Straits Times.
“For those whose immune systems are compromised, and even for those with otherwise normal immune systems, sometimes they are still not able to mount an adequate response even after exposure to the virus,” said the associate professor at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
Hsu added that nonetheless, it is still crucial to be vaccinated as it is able to reduce the virus’ transmission effectively.
“Just like how an umbrella does not guarantee you won’t get wet from the rain but makes you less likely to get wet and catch a cold, the vaccines do not provide full protection but they drastically cut the risk of developing Covid-19 and being severely sick with it,” said the vice dean of research at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health Associate Professor Alex Cook.
He added that though the people have been vaccinated, they still need to adhere to the given strict safe management practices. However, by the time that the majority of the people have been vaccinated, the people may be able to relax from these measures.
“But I would expect that behind the scenes, measures such as contact tracing, testing symptomatic individuals, and monitoring of the situation overseas would need to continue,” he said.
The Straits Times also quoted Professor Ooi Eng Eong from the Duke-NUS Medical School as saying the primary goal of vaccination is to prevent the Covid-19 virus, not infection.
“Vaccinated individuals would have developed immune memory against the Sars-CoV-2 virus such that upon natural infection, the rapid immune response would prevent these individuals from becoming ill.
“Although asymptomatically infected individuals can theoretically transmit Sars-CoV-2 to others, real-world data from vaccinated countries suggest that without coughs and sneezes that expel the virus, such instances are relatively uncommon,” he said.
Recently, it was reported that 40 health workers have contracted Covid-19 virus even after getting their second dose of vaccination.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in his Facebook page today stated that 31 of the health workers were infected less than 14 days after receiving their second dose while the remaining contracted the virus two weeks after receiving their second dosage.
It is reported that about 142 workers tested positive for Covid-19 after their first dose of the vaccine.
“Those who were infected had less severe symptoms and this made it clear that after the completion of the two dose vaccination, we may still be infected but less severely.
“Although the vaccine gives a glimmer of hope in the fight against Covid-19, we still need to adhere to the given standard operating procedures (SOPs) in public spaces even after vaccination,” he added.
