Why vaccinated people get a ‘breakthrough’ infection

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In any case, the immune defenses that vaccines initiate must recognize the virus soon after infection and destroy it before significant damage can occur.

“This explains why people get infected and why people don’t get seriously ill,” said Michael C. Nussensweg, an immunologist at Rockefeller University in New York. “It’s almost inevitable, unless you’re going to give people very frequent reinforcers.”

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There is limited evidence beyond anecdotal reports to indicate whether delta variant superinfections are more common or more likely to spread to other people. The CDC has recorded about 5,500 hospitalizations and deaths of vaccinated people, but does not track milder infections.

Additional data from Covid-19 Sports and Society Workgroup, an alliance of professional sports leagues that work closely with CDC Sports teams in the group, tests at least more than 10,000 people a day and sequences all infections, according to Dr. Robbie Seca, a physician who worked with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA.

He said superhero injuries in leagues seemed to be more common with the delta variant than with alpha, the variant first identified in Britain. As expected, vaccinations have reduced the severity and duration of the disease significantly, with players returning less than two weeks after infection, compared to nearly three weeks earlier in the pandemic.

Dr. Sekka said that the players during their infection carry very high amounts of the virus for a period of seven to 10 days, compared to two or three days in those infected with Alpha. He added that infected players are required to be quarantined, so the project has not been able to track whether they are spreading the virus to others – but they likely do.

“If they are brought back into the community, I think you will spread from vaccinated individuals,” he added. “They don’t even realize they have Covid because they think they are vaccinated.”

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