“Both vaccines are still doing very well,” lead researcher Sarah Walker added. “If you start very, very high in effectiveness, you have a long way to go.”
The further in time, the less the effectiveness. But not only time, also the more contagious delta-variant (which was first identified in India and has since become dominant, ed.) plays a role. The study shows that vaccinees infected with the delta variant just as many virus particles in their nose and throat as unvaccinated.
Or as Koen Pouwels puts it: “As a vaccinated person, you still have a much smaller chance of infecting someone than a non-vaccinated person. But if you are infected with the delta variant, there is a greater chance that there will be more virus particles in your nose and throat. So you would probably be better off infecting unvaccinated and therefore unprotected people than was the case before.”
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