As I have explained before, risk is the probability that an event will happen. While the absolute risk of the unvaccinated group is lower than that of the vaccinated group, the relative risk is more than 4 times higher.Originally Posted by joebloggs
"The Lancet" ( and elsewhere ) has commented on "vaccine equity". By August only 12.6 million of the 4.46 billion doses administered globally were in low- and lower-middle-income countries like the Philippines. "No one is safe until everyone is safe". Unmitigated transmission allows viruses to continue replicating, with the chances of more transmissible variants which could escape natural or vaccine-induced immunity. The need for third dose "boosters" ( rather than first and second doses ) should be evidence-based. Antibody titres may decline, but we also need to know if cellular immunity does the same.
A recent study, also in "The Lancet", has shown that vaccination ( compared to no vaccination ) was associated with reduced odds of hospitalisation or having more than five symptoms in the first week of illness following the first or second dose, and long duration ( over 28 days ) symptoms following the second dose. Almost all symptoms were reported less frequently in infected vaccinated than in infected unvaccinated individuals. Some individuals still become infected with covid after vaccination ( in that study, frail older adults and those living in more deprived areas are at increased risk ).
Kelly Clarkson may have sung that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Most people understand that active immunity through vaccinations saves lives where the risk of infection may be too high to take the chance of natural immunity from disease. Anthrax, TB, cholera, diphtheria, hepatitis A + B, meningitis, HPV, influenza, measles/mumps/rubella, polio, tetanus and rabies vaccines are among those which have good evidence of effectiveness. Clinical trials and real-world data show covid vaccines are improving the course of the covid pandemic.
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