A lab technician uses a single-channel pipette dripper to test the material during the Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing process at a laboratory in the Dunkeld suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, 10 February 2021.
Waldo Swiegers | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Preliminary reports from South Africa show that people who have recovered from Covid-19 have been re-infected with a new, more contagious variant of the virus, World Health Organization officials said on Friday.
The good news, however, is that vaccines developed to protect against the virus appear to reduce the severity of the disease in those who develop Covid-19, even if it does not completely protect them from infection, said WHO scientist Dr. Soumya. Swaminathan.
” [vaccine] the studies that have been done so far in South Africa, as well as in Brazil, with different candidates, have shown complete protection against severe diseases, hospitalization and death. No cases have been reported in any of the trials, “she said.
Vaccination can also reduce the spread of new Covid variants, according to the WHO.
“There are reports now that if you have the vaccine and you get infected, the viral load is much lower. So the chances of infecting others may be lower,” Swaminathan said.
A previous infection with Covid produces antibodies and cell-mediated immunity, which is thought to prevent reinfection, scientists have discovered. Vaccination also helps people build protection against the virus.
But researchers continue to study the extent to which previous infection and vaccination protect against new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus.
Increased vaccination efforts alone are likely to be insufficient to manage the spread of the coronavirus strain, which originated in the United Kingdom, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC on Thursday. Gottlieb said a combination of warmer weather and accelerated vaccinations could help contain the variant.
Swaminathan, at the WHO briefing on Friday, stressed the importance of vaccinated people to continue to take precautions such as wearing a mask, washing hands and social distance to control the spread of the virus.