Vaccine stops transmission?...

[hodgebit]

I've read various posts from people who say that the vaccine does nothing to stop transmission....

People seem to confuse "evidence of absence" with "absence of evidence". There's unlikely to be a body of scientifically peer reviewed evidence that demonstrates that walking down a flight of stairs balancing a glass of boiling water on your head puts you at greater risk of scalding, but it doesn't follow that the behaviour is safe!

It's the same with the vaccine it seems... There isn't conclusive evidence to show that it helps prevent transmission, but scientists are reasonably confident pending outcome of further study.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-56514470

It's an important that the Government and health authorities put out the right message on this if they want to maximise vaccinations, as people may well otherwise think having a vaccine is of no consequence to them socialising with older or vulnerable people.

You'd think, but after Johnson's statement yesterday as well as the extensive WHO statement, that is not the message being conveyed.

Pretty sure it was another way of the government manipulating the public into getting the vaccine to save others - how can a vaccine possibly stop transmission - I now know two people who spread covid to their family after having the vaccine! One only had the first jab but the other had two!

I completely agree. The communications around the vaccine have been awful. Even had me wondering what's the point and I was celebrating when they were first approved. I then thought if they reduce viral load and the time you have it for they must logically reduce transmission. Also the fantastic decrease in spread in hospitals and care homes since staff were vaccinated strongly suggests vaccines are working. Of course you may still catch it but your body knows how to kick it out.

On the other side the constant articles on rare, severe side effects feel all out of proportion. I read one that had a bit on common side effects then loads on blood clots.

I tried to sensibly weigh it all up and decided that my risks from the vaccine were far more predictable and lower than those from Covid and had my first Oxford-AstraZeneca one on Monday. I did get the typical side effects for 24 hours but all good now :)

The vaccine substantially reduces transmission but is not 100%. Therefore people need to exercise caution until herd immunity has been achieved.

The government do not want the vaccinated population out rampaging while everyone else has to behave themselves. They are feeding us one message until they can let the whole population out.
Of course it stops transmission because if you are vaccinated then you almost certainly don’t have it!

how can a vaccine possibly stop transmission...

Strange statement... If the vaccine helps prevent you from becoming infected, then it follows you're less likely to infect others! Some people seem to think that because it doesn't stop "all infection", that it doesn't stop "infection at all"! It's the same tipsy-turvy mindset as "absence of evidence" is "evidence of absence".

I'm sure I've read that it stops around 50% of transmission. Presumably because asymptomatic covid can be transmitted, then there's a chance a vaccinated person could also transmit it?

@hodgebit it stops you from getting seriously ill, you can still get it and carry it!

[quote Remmy123]@hodgebit it stops you from getting seriously ill, you can still get it and carry it![/quote]
Where do you get the idea that a vaccine "only" stops you from getting seriously ill and has "zero" impact on transmission?

The idea that vaccines have no impact on transmission seems to be an urban myth resulting from some people misunderstanding messages from scientists and being unable to distinguish between "absence of conclusive evidence" and "conclusive evidence of absence".

@hodgebit because someone I know who is vaccinated caught it from another vaccinated person and spread it to her whole family!

@Remmy123 likewise, my friend has had the vaccine and still caught covid themselves and then transmitted covid to their entire family (including others who had been vaccinated). I believe it reduces but does not eradicate transmission and reduces the risk of serious illness but certainly doesn't make it impossible for you to catch it.

It's impossible to prove one way or the other because we can never be 100% sure that someone who caught Covid 'from a vaccinated person', didn't actually catch it elsewhere.

Mumsnet is full of reports of people who apparently caught Covid despite not having met anyone or been outside their front doors for months, so how could we know the source of anyone's infection?

People knowing an anecdote about a vaccinated person apparently spreading Covid does not mean that the vaccines do not generally reduce transmission. Nobody has ever claimed that the vaccines are 100% effective and the people who do not seroconvert appropriately will still be able to catch and spread Covid. Population- wide data is now showing overwhelmingly that the vaccines are hugely reducing spread.

I'm assuming as covid doesn't require a live host to transfer to others that even vaccinated people can carry it around