You can become infected with corona after being vaccinated. You may not want to get sick yourself, but you can, in principle, pass the infection on to others.
There are divided opinions about how big the risk is.
However, none of the manufacturers behind the approved vaccinations have investigated the extent to which a vaccinated person can pass on corona infection to others.
Even though we are vaccinated, we can be infected with corona. Because the body at that time will be full of antibodies, the virus will live exclusively in our nose and throat. We will probably not experience symptoms or any kind of illness.
But the virus can be passed on to others by coughing or sneezing.
For virologist Allan Randrup Thomsen, this particular aspect is worrying.
– I think more of my colleagues tend to sweep the problem under the rug, he says.
His concern is primarily about what the consequences will be for achieving herd immunity in society if the vaccine does not provide adequate protection.
I think most Danes expect that the vaccine will mean a final goodbye to the virus in society. But we must not take it for granted that with the vaccine we will achieve the herd immunity we hope for.
A vaccination is thus not an entry ticket to being able to hug vulnerable family members again or relax the general restrictions in society.
– We want to achieve herd immunity because parts of the population cannot be vaccinated. Either because they can not tolerate the vaccine or even gain immunity. In other words, herd immunity helps to prevent this vulnerable group in society from becoming infected, says Allan Randrup Thomsen.
The health authorities expect that the mutated English variant will soon become the most dominant coronavirus in Denmark . The virus is far more contagious than the common coronavirus, and therefore it will require up to 85 percent of the population to form antibodies to the virus in one way or another before we achieve herd immunity. Either by being infected or by the vaccine.
It is estimated that about five percent of the population either cannot tolerate the vaccine or gain immunity. In addition, the vaccine has not yet been approved for children under 16 and pregnant women.
The National Board of Health lacks documentation
The Danish Health and Medicines Authority is also aware of the problem.
Here, they are trying to inform the citizens that they must continue to comply with society’s restrictions and infection prevention measures when they are fully vaccinated.
