Why are we getting sick from covid even after getting vaccinated and the booster dose?

Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are on the rise in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with more than two-thirds of Americans having tested positive.

But why is this happening when we have already been vaccinated and applied the booster vaccine.

During the videoconference “ We are vaccinated. We got the booster vaccine, so why do we get sick with covid ?”, organized by Ethnic Media Services , medical experts stated that if one takes into account that the Omicron subvariant, BA-5 is responsible for 78% of the infections, the question is whether this strain is more contagious.

Why is BA.5 more contagious and symptomatic?

Dr. Ben Neuman, professor of biology and chief of virology at the Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University , said that Omicron suddenly had 15 mutations, and the new subvariants, 17 or 18 mutations, and some of them are part of the regrowth. .

“As a result we would like our immune system to recognize them. Our body cleans as much as it can, and what's left are the hardest to knock down."

He said what they know from animal studies is that the BA.4 and BA.5 variants cause more disease in the hamsters' lungs and make it harder for them to breathe, the same thing that has happened in people.

"What we can say is that Omicron and the subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 evade immunity because they have a lot of changes at the exact point where we would like to have it."

He made it clear that what really matters in order not to get infected is how much you got the last vaccine, not how many vaccines you have gotten. That's why, he said, she said, some people have gotten infected, even after getting all the shots .

Dr. Neuman, who was infected with covid, said that he only took off his mask to eat during lunch ; or on the plane when consuming a drink or eating a cookie.

“In one of those moments I caught it, and there was no one coughing around me. However it may be, I got sick and infected the rest of my family very quickly after I came back.”

So it only takes a short time to get infected and there are many great times out there.

Why aren't the new variants milder?

"The problem with this type of virus is that it spreads before symptoms start, and essentially it's a side effect, and it's going to continue to change to evade immunity.”

He added that there is no force that makes it weaker.

“Perhaps we will see that in 10,000 or 20,000 years, and we will say that it was not such a bad virus, but for now it does not look good.”

Why don't some people get sick?

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, associate dean for regional campuses at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in treating infectious diseases, said there are several theories as to why some people don't get Covid.

“So far we haven't discovered any secret code that makes someone super immune. We have seen it in other diseases with some people who are genetically resistant as in the case of HIV. Finding that certain people are immune would allow us to create medicines to make others more resistant to infection.”

He explained that the second reason for not getting sick with covid in the same home, where some get it and others do not, has to do with behavior and that perhaps some in that family take more precautions.

“The third reason may be immunological, the longer it has been since you were vaccinated, the more vulnerable you are. And in one house we have different age groups, and some have the booster and some don't.”

And he added that the fourth reason may be that some people got sick and did not know.

“We know that covid can cause an asymptomatic infection. But the likely reason for not getting sick boils down to immunology. Some people are more protected than others.”

Hospitalizations against infections

Why do some people with covid symptoms come out negative in home tests?

Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, said the first reason has to do with the fact that Covid is not the only respiratory virus on the loose.

“Last summer and this summer we have had an uptick in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections that have impacted children and adults, and we have other common colds that can cause sore throats and infect people.”

In conclusion, he emphasized that if you tested negative for covid, and you have symptoms, you may have another virus.

But he pointed out that another, more anecdotal reason has to do with the fact that rapid tests are less likely to give you a positive result for the BA.5 subvariant.

“As Dr. Hyung says, the number of real infections out there is much more than we count. That is one of the reasons why the CDC focuses on the number of hospitalizations for covid to measure if we are facing a public health problem ”.