Covid-19 CDC Guidance For The Fully Vaccinated: Read It For Yourself

Andrew Donaldson

Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has been the Managing Editor of Ordinary Times since 2018, is a widely published opinion writer, and appears in media, radio, and occasionally as a talking head on TV. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter@four4thefire. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast. Subscribe to Andrew'sHeard Tell Substack for free here:

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12 Responses

  1. Brandon Berg says:

    I’m deeply skeptical of the claim that there’s no difference in viral load or transmission rate between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Limiting viral load is how vaccines reduce severity, isn’t it? If you get the same viral load, then you should get the same symptoms, vaccine or no.

    On a related (to the flyer) note, I saw a news story today about how a bunch of people in Tokyo got infected by going out drinking immediately after getting their first shots.Report

    • PD Shaw in reply to Brandon Berg says:

      I would note the word “may” as the weasel word that makes an outrageous claim unfalsifiable. It may be possible that in extreme circumstances a vaccinated person may have as much viral load as a person who is unvaccinated. The vaccine may not have been effected, the vaccinated person may have inhaled a quantity of virus usually reserved for lab animals (gas masks), while the unvaccinated person may have good natural immunity and cleared a minor exposure quickly.

      There are studies showing the vaccine reduces viral spread, but the primary purpose of vaccines is to reduce severe disease and death.

      How vaccines workReport

      • Brandon Berg in reply to PD Shaw says:

        Right, I get all that, but my point is that in order to reduce severe disease and death, a vaccine has to reduce peak, or at least AUC, viral load. The whole point of a vaccine is that by allowing your immune system to produce antibodies to a virus ASAP, it’s able to get things under control before the virus can reproduce to the point where viral load reaches harmful levels. I don’t see how it can help at all without doing that.

        I mean, I guess if you compare outliers, you might find a bit of overlap, but certainly on average it must have a huge impact on viral load.Report

        • PD Shaw in reply to Brandon Berg says:

          Yeah, I guess I think the vaccine has to clear the virus efficiently. But one of the points made in my link is that antibodies are just one tool of our immune system to block infection. Perhaps better made here:

          “The importance of antibody versus T cells in controlling infection depends on the virus. For many viruses, antibody can block infection, but T cells are important for recovery. In COVID-19, antibodies rise late in the course of infection, when virus titers are already declining. This observation is in line with the resolution of infection by T cells.”

          T cells will save us from COVID-19

          Antibody response appears slow, but T cells kill virus infected cells and are not impacted by variants of concern, which is why I’m emphasizing them. CDC is emphasizing the latest variant, which might have some antibody avoidance features, which may be irrelevant.Report

  2. Dark Matter says:

    This is because the delibrately unvaccinated aren’t doing their share.Report

  3. James K says:

    I don’t think this really does any good, it seems to me that the states where vaccination rates are low, compliance with a mask mandate will also be low. And where vaccination rates are high, masking is unnecessary.

    And at this point, if I were surrounded by vaccine-refusers, I’d be really resistant to keep wearing a mask. I mean if people don’t want to be protected from COVID, why not oblige them?Report