Thread by @mikenavallo

An Oxford Univ study last wk raised concerns about vaccine efficacy vs. Delta variant.
Prof Sarah Walker, chief investigator/academic lead of UK’s National COVID-19 Infection Survey, clarified their study found 2 doses of Pfizer/AZ still give good protection vs Delta.
#ANCRundown

The UK study shows that efficacy of Pfizer vaccine vs Delta, while initially higher than AZ, wanes faster such that by the 4th-5th month, they have same effectivity.
Says no immediate cause for concern because it still offers good protection but they will look at it carefully.

Prof Walker says too early to say if Pfizer's efficacy rate will wane further or stabilize in next 2-3 mos. Will its efficacy totally wane so that booster shots will be needed? Don't know yet. But not getting jabbed still biggest risk for getting COVID.

UK study found that unlike Alpha variant which saw lower viral load among vaccinated who later acquired #COVID19, in Delta, both vaccinated and unvaccinated have similar viral load, suggesting they could still spread the virus.

Walker: What this new data suggests is that at least with Delta, even if you’re vaccinated, you can get it. It won’t make you very sick but you can still pass it on. Which means the idea that you will somehow protect the rest of society is probably not gonna work.

Walker says their study suggests that the idea of herd immunity -- inoculating enough people to ensure everyone's protected -- is going to be "very difficult."

What should policy makers always remember? Even if you're vaccinated, you can still pass on the coronavirus.

Should everyone then get vaccinated so that even if they can still pass on COVID, at least they're protected?

Walker: Vaccination is completely a personal choice and it’s a personal choice that one has to respect.

If there are questions surrounding efficacy of vaccines over time, are we better off investing resources in finding cure for #COVID19?
Walker says that's "extremely unlikely" because no cure for common cold has been found in last 30 years and there are so many COVID circulating.

Walker notes that in the UK, positivity rate is just over 1% or 1 for every 100 persons and there are very few people in the hospitals. So vaccines work, she says.

As of Aug 22, 61.59% of people in the UK have been fully vaccinated while 8.66% are waiting for their second dose.

Full interview with University of Oxford's Prof. Sarah Walker (medical statistics and epidemiology). She is also the chief investigator and academic lead for the UK’s National COVID-19 Infection Survey.

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