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A widely shared Facebook post claims that COVID-19 vaccines cannot catch the person or transmit the disease, claiming that it means “there is no difference” between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. . It is not true. Current evidence suggests that approved COVID-19 vaccines offer people significantly greater protection against the disease.
The Facebook image has been shared a thousand times since it was posted on March 13 and reads: “Let me get it right. They want you to have a passport to prove you were vaccinated. But the vaccine does not prevent you from getting it or transmitting it. There is therefore no difference at all between the vaccinated and the vaccinated. Wax or no wax, it’s the same. The passport only shows proof of submission. ”(Here). Comments below the post, such as “Correct !!!” and “You bet!” indicates that other users also believe the claim.
PROTECTION
Results of clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines that were eventually approved for use showed high efficacy rates – and also showed positive effects in broader community developments.
Preliminary analyzes of the UK, Brazil and South Africa trials of the Oxford / AstraZeneca jab, for example, found that it reached an 82% efficacy against symptomatic diseases after two doses (here).
Meanwhile, Pfizer / BioNTech said its vaccine achieves 95% efficiency (here) and the Moderna results reach 94.1% (here).
Both AstraZeneca and Moderna also reported a 100% protection rate against serious effects of COVID-19, while Pfizer said that in the Phase III trial, ten serious cases of the disease were reported, nine of which were in the placebo group and only one in the vaccine group (here, here).
Data from Israel, which conducted the fastest vaccination campaign that vaccinated more than half of its population of 9 million (here), largely shows the decline in new COVID-19 cases, coupled with less critically ill patients and deaths (here). The country has now begun to relax its strict measures (here).
In the UK, which has also seen a rapid rollout of vaccines, similar patterns are seen with declining deaths and severe cases of the disease (here).
TRANSMISSION
Scientists say more research will be needed to determine the extent to which COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission; however, public health experts at the Meedan Digital Health Lab say that early data are showing positive signs (here).
The research firm The Advisory Board also marked a working paper in the medical journal Lancet on 22 February that reviewed thousands of COVID-19 examinations among health workers in England, including unvaccinated staff and staff who received the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine (here) . According to the results, vaccinated health workers are four times less likely to develop asymptomatic COVID-19, according to study co-leader Mike Weekes, a specialist in infectious diseases at the University of Cambridge (here).
The Advisory Council also highlighted a pre-published article by the Israeli Ministry of Health finding that the Pfizer vaccine appears to reduce all coronavirus infections, including asymptomatic infection, by 89.4% and symptomatic infections by 93.7%.
Another pre-print study by Harvard epidemiologists Marc Lipsitch and Rebecca Kahn, published on February 28, estimated, according to Moderna’s data, that ‘one dose of vaccine reduces the potential for transmission by at least 61%, possibly significantly more’ (here ).
In an opinion piece for The Daily Beast on February 16, Johns Hopkins epidemiologists Kate Grabowski and Justin Lessler responded to social media users about the dignity of the vaccine. They wrote: “We are confident that vaccination against COVID-19 reduces the chance of transmitting the virus” and said it would be “beyond shocking if there was no impact” (here).
VERDICT
Missing context. Current data from clinical trials and the introduction of approved COVID-19 vaccines into the community show that people who get the sting have significantly greater protection against the disease.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.