Can a person become infected with coronavirus after vaccination?
Most experts agree that the vaccine does not provide 100% protection against infection.
If a large dose of the pathogen enters the body of a vaccinated person, this can cause a so-called immune breakthrough. “A person who has been vaccinated may think that they can no longer be infectious and cannot become infected themselves. But this is not true. After vaccination, there is still a small risk of infection, although if it occurs, the disease will not be severe,” explained infectious disease specialist and vaccinologist Evgeniy Timakov. The company that developed the EpiVacCorona vaccine warned that a person with developed immunity in contact with a coronavirus patient may become ill within a month after vaccination, but in this case the virus will not cause complications or death. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova stated that the immune response to the vaccine against coronavirus infection is formed within 42 days after the first injection. Therefore, all this time it is important to follow preventive measures in order not to become infected with COVID-19: refrain from visiting crowded places, observe the mask regime and hygiene rules, minimize contacts, maintain social distance, limit the intake of alcohol and medications that suppress the immune system.
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Today, Russians can be vaccinated with two domestic vaccines - Gam-Covid-Vac (Sputnik V). The third vaccine, CoviVac, developed by the Chumakov Center, is in the final stage of testing and will go into public circulation by the end of March.
- "EpiVacCorona": effectiveness is 100%; immune protection is expected to last for at least a year.
- "Gam-Covid-Vac": effectiveness is 91.4%, against severe disease - 100%; immune protection is expected to last for two years (nine months has already been proven).
- "CoviVac": effectiveness is 85%; The duration of immunity will be announced after the completion of clinical trials.
Preparation
- Evgeniy Komarovsky emphasizes that it is the parents who should assess the baby’s condition in the first place, and if doubts arise, be sure to tell the doctor about them at the next appointment.
- It is advisable to do a general blood test a few days before the expected date of vaccination. The results of such a study will help the pediatrician understand whether everything is okay with the baby.
- Komarovsky advises children with allergic dermatitis to do DTP only after no new skin rashes have appeared for 21 days. First, a child prone to severe allergies can be given an antihistamine, the name of which and the exact dosage should be prescribed by a pediatrician. Self-dealing in this matter is unforgivable. However, Evgeniy Olegovich advises not to take Suprastin and Tavegil, since these medications “dry” the mucous membranes, and this is fraught with complications after an injection on the respiratory tract.
- Monitor your child's bowel movements. The day before the vaccination, on the day and the next day, the baby should walk large so that the intestines are not overloaded. This helps the baby to survive DPT more easily. If there was no stool, you can do an enema a day before going to the clinic or give your child age-appropriate laxatives.
- It will be better if the mother reduces the amount of food during these three days, reduces its calorie content and does not overfeed the child. For bottle-fed babies, Komarovsky recommends diluting the dry formula in a concentration lower than that stated by the manufacturer, and advises those who are breastfed to suck out less milk, giving warm drinking water as a “supplementary feed”. According to Komarovsky’s observations, it is those who breastfeed rather than formula-fed who tolerate the vaccine more easily. Before the injection, it is better not to feed the child for 2 hours.
- Vitamin D, if the baby takes it additionally, should be stopped 3-4 days before the expected vaccination. After vaccination, you need to wait at least five days to start taking the vitamin again.
- Do not dress your child too warmly before the clinic. A vaccine is more likely to harm a sweaty baby with a lack of fluid in the body than a baby dressed for the season and weather.
Now let’s listen to Dr. Komarovsky on the topic of how to prepare for vaccinations.
Is a person contagious after vaccination?
According to the chief freelance therapist of the Ministry of Health, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oksana Drapkina, during vaccination a person cannot infect others. However, according to Timakov, there is a small risk of infection, but it is not associated with the coronavirus vaccine. The doctor explains this by the fact that when vaccinated against COVID-19, people do not develop local immunity of the mucous membranes. This means that once SARS-CoV-2 gets on, for example, the nasal mucosa, it can multiply and can be transmitted to other people by sneezing. “Vaccination prevents the virus from entering the body so that the infection does not reach the organ that it can infect. Vaccination will most likely not increase the local immunity of the mucous membranes, so the coronavirus will be able to catch on and begin to multiply in the nasopharynx. Thus, the person will become a source of infection,” the expert explained.
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Allergist-immunologist Vladimir Bolibok shares a similar opinion. In his opinion, those who have been vaccinated may not get sick with COVID-19 themselves, but they can infect others with the coronavirus. “Vaccination protects against infection - that is, if the virus gets into the nose, the person will not get sick, but he will be a virus carrier,” he said.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko explained the importance of wearing masks, including to those who have been vaccinated: “Vaccination reliably protects against severe illness and, in the vast majority of cases, against the disease, but a vaccinated person can nevertheless transmit the infection to those who are not protected ", said Murashko.
What not to do immediately after vaccination
You cannot hide from doctors the presence of any symptoms after vaccination. Allergic reactions, high fever, severe headaches or muscle pain, shortness of breath, cough, runny nose, sore throat, especially if these reactions last for more than three to five days, are a reason to see a doctor, warns vaccinologist Evgeny Timakov. This may no longer be a reaction to the vaccine, but signs of the disease.
After vaccination with Sputnik V, the Ministry of Health recommends not getting the injection site wet for three days, not visiting the sauna or bathhouse, not drinking alcohol and avoiding excessive physical activity. In turn, Rospotrebnadzor after vaccination recommended not to overcool, not overheat and avoid stress to the body, as well as avoid foods that can provoke an allergic reaction.
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How to help your immune system after vaccination
The chief freelance nutritionist of the Russian Ministry of Health, Viktor Tutelyan, recommends that everyone who has been vaccinated against coronavirus “pay attention to vitamins, primarily vitamin D,” and, if necessary, eliminate its deficiency. You also need to consume foods high in protein. “Why a vaccine is administered is to stimulate the production of specific antibodies, and antibodies are protein structures. For this, there is a great need for protein. What is this - meat, fish, eggs. We need to make sure that this is included in the diet,” Tutelyan explained.
What if, for good reason, the second stage of vaccination cannot be completed after 21 days?
The first and second injections are not different drugs, but two components of one vaccine that complement each other. The first stage triggers an immune response that develops over three weeks. And the second strengthens it, notes the chief freelance infectious disease specialist at the Ministry of Health of the Moscow Region, Irina Shilkina.
The regimen proposed by the vaccine developer is ideal for developing immunity. But if force majeure occurs, the second stage can be postponed.
– You cannot get the second vaccination before 21 days, but a little later, if the reason is valid, you can. For example, in case of illness,” explains the chief freelance epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health of the Moscow Region, Zinaida Trush. – You can postpone the second stage for up to about six weeks.
Should those who have already had the disease be vaccinated?
Those who have recovered from COVID-19 and have IgG antibodies, which are responsible for stable immunity to infection, do not need vaccination, says Oksana Drapkina. “Patients who have had the disease and have immunoglobulin G antibodies are not currently vaccinated,” she said.
Before vaccination, it is advisable to get tested for antibodies. If the IgG level is above 10, then immunity has already formed and vaccination is not necessary.
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According to the head of the department of general virology of the Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiological Preparations named after. M.P. Chumakov RAS, Professor Georgy Ignatiev, the presence of antibodies to coronavirus in the blood is a contraindication for participation in vaccine trials. In other words, if a person has recently had COVID-19, he cannot be vaccinated. “Since the current criteria for medical eligibility for participation in clinical trials is a previous infection, it turns out that people who have had COVID-19 do not need to be vaccinated. But how long does post-infectious immunity last? The level of antibodies is constantly falling over time, and the antibodies should be expected to go away. And then the person will need to be vaccinated,” Ignatiev explained.
When to do it?
DTP is included in the National Vaccination Calendar, which implies certain vaccination dates, which Dr. Komarovsky strongly advises against violating. Children do it three times. The first time is when the baby reaches three months of age. Then at 4.5 months and six months. If the first vaccination for some reason did not take place (the child was sick, a quarantine was declared for influenza or ARVI), then they begin to vaccinate him from now on, strictly observing the interval between vaccinations from 30 to 45 days).
Revaccination should take place one year after the third administration. If the baby goes according to schedule, then at one and a half years, but if he received the first vaccination later than the due date, then 12 months after the third vaccination.
The child will have to face DPT at the age of seven, and then at the age of 14, these will be one-time booster vaccinations necessary to ensure that the level of antibodies to tetanus and diphtheria is maintained at the proper level.
Children who are already 4 years old, as well as older children, if necessary, are given an ADS vaccine that is devoid of killed pertussis germs. Children who have already had whooping cough will be vaccinated with the same vaccine.
Why children are not vaccinated against COVID-19
There is no need to vaccinate children against coronavirus en masse, said the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova. “We don’t vaccinate children yet, there is no need for mass immunization of children, children tolerate [the disease] very easily, immunity is developed quickly even in the absence of symptoms,” she explained.
Infectious disease doctor Evgeniy Timakov shares a similar opinion: “Children do not get sick so seriously and severely, so getting vaccinated is not a priority for them now.”
Recently, clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine in the form of nasal drops for young children - up to 3-4 years old - began in Russia. As the director of the center, Alexander Gintsburg, said, “this is, of course, a very gentle and convenient form of vaccination for children.” In addition, it is “completely devoid of any side effects.” The tests are planned to be completed this year, Gunzburg said. Adults can also use the spray vaccine, but this procedure will not replace traditional vaccination.
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When and who can get vaccinated?
Vaccination against coronavirus is allowed 30 days after any other vaccinations, according to the Moscow mayor’s website. However, it does not protect against the flu, so it is recommended to get both vaccinations. Coronavirus vaccination recommendations also state that the vaccine should not be given to those who have suffered acute coronary syndrome or stroke in the past year. Contraindications also include chronic systemic infections, tuberculosis, neoplasms, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, and HIV.
Those who do not have a high temperature (37 °C or more) will be able to get vaccinated. Before the procedure, the patient must be examined by a health care worker, who must be informed about existing chronic diseases, other vaccinations, and previous acute respiratory viral infections. Based on these data, the decision on vaccination will be made.
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“In addition, both women and men should not take part in the study if they plan to conceive a child in the next three months,” the mayor’s website states.
According to the chief freelance specialist in obstetrics and gynecology of the Russian Ministry of Health, Professor Leila Adamyan, it is better to start planning a pregnancy or undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) two to three months after vaccination against coronavirus. “Even a couple who does not want to have a child today, but has one in the project, must be vaccinated [against coronavirus], and in the near future - [in] two, maximum three months, can switch to IVF and planning pregnancy directly.” , said Adamyan.
The doctor assures that the risk of complications after vaccination is “a thousand times lower” than harm to the body from COVID-19, especially if it is severe. It is worth considering the influence of special medications that are used to treat the disease.
What it is
The DPT vaccination is one of the very first in a child’s life; it is done at an early age, and therefore the very fact of this vaccination raises many questions and doubts among parents of infants. The name of the vaccine consists of the first letters of the names of the three most dangerous infectious diseases for children - whooping cough (K), diphtheria (D) and tetanus (C). The letter A in the acronym stands for “adsorbed.” In other words, the vaccine contains the maximum amount of active substances obtained by adsorption (when a high concentration is achieved from a gas or liquid on the surface of contact of two media).
Thus, the adsorbed pertussis-diphtheria-tetanus vaccine (DTP) is designed to stimulate the production of specific antibodies to the listed infections in the baby’s body. The immune system will “get to know” the microbes that cause whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus, and in the future, if such pests enter the body, it will be able to quickly identify, recognize and destroy them.
Is the coronavirus vaccine safe for older people?
According to the chief physician of the hospital in Kommunarka, Denis Protsenko, vaccination against coronavirus will help reduce mortality among elderly patients with confirmed COVID-19. The level of antibodies in older people after vaccination against coronavirus is usually lower than in young people, said Deputy Head of Rospotrebnadzor Tatyana Nepomnyashchikh. “If the antibody level is zero, something must have gone wrong. Maybe the person had health problems or was simply overworked at the time of vaccination. Or he has an acquired or permanent immunodeficiency. “In older people, the immune response takes longer to form than in young people, and their antibody levels tend to be lower,” she noted.
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Vaccination for elderly patients will be safe if the patients do not have exacerbations of chronic diseases, they have not had ARVI for two weeks before vaccination and have not received other vaccinations for 30 days, said Andrei Tyazhelnikov, chief freelance specialist in primary health care for adults. “I would like to say that the oldest Muscovite vaccinated against coronavirus is 104 years old <...> In total, more than 700,000 people in Moscow have been vaccinated against coronavirus, of which 50% are over 60 years old,” he noted. The expert recalls that citizens over 60 years of age are in the highest risk group and are more susceptible to coronavirus. “In fact, vaccination is the only way to protect older patients <...> We must intensify the vaccination process more than ever,” he added.
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Komarovsky about DPT
Evgeny Komarovsky advises worried and doubtful parents to carefully read the issue, and advises those who are against vaccination in general to reconsider their views. Because DPT, according to the doctor, is a highly effective way to protect the baby from diseases dangerous to his health and the only reasonable choice for mothers and fathers.
In this video episode, Dr. Komarovsky will tell us everything he thinks about the need for DTP vaccination
Like any prevention, vaccination with adsorbed pertussis-diphtheria-tetanus vaccine requires some preparation and parental readiness for possible problems. However, they are completely surmountable, Komarovsky emphasizes, if you follow a certain algorithm of actions.
Taking the drug into account
First of all, parents should be aware of which manufacturer’s vaccine their child will be vaccinated with. Today there are many such drugs, they have their pros and cons, but there are no frankly bad vaccines on the pharmaceutical market at the moment. Parents are in no way able to influence the choice of vaccine, since the drug is delivered centrally to clinics. DTP vaccination, which is given free of charge.
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However, mothers and fathers can go the other way and ask the pediatrician to vaccinate the baby with Tetracok and Infanrix; these drugs are expensive, and such vaccination is done exclusively at the expense of the parents. Komarovsky, based on personal experience, claims that there are many children who get whooping cough after a timely DTP. However, in his practice, there were only isolated cases of this disease in children vaccinated with Infanrix or Tetrakok.
The reaction to Tetrakok is sometimes stronger than after DPT. Infanrix is much better tolerated by most children. Komarovsky does not exclude the use of Pentaxim; additional biological products against polio have been introduced into the composition of this vaccine.
Baby's health status
At the time of vaccination, the child must be completely healthy. It is for this reason that the baby is always examined by a pediatrician before the injection. But the doctor sees your child less often and less than the parents, and therefore careful observations of the child’s condition by mom and dad will help the doctor decide whether the right time has come to administer the vaccine.
And here is the actual video where Dr. Komarovsky will tell you when you can’t get vaccinated
You cannot vaccinate with DTP if your child has signs of acute respiratory viral infection, runny nose, cough, or has an elevated body temperature. If the baby has previously had seizures that are in no way related to high fever, the vaccine cannot be given. If the previous procedure caused a severe allergic reaction or a high temperature (over 40.0) in the little one, Komarovsky also advises refraining from DTP vaccination. With great caution, the doctor should decide to vaccinate a baby whose medical record contains notes about the presence of serious immune diseases.
If the baby has had a runny nose for a long time, but the appetite is excellent and there are no other symptoms of the disease, Komarovsky is confident that rhinitis in this case will not be a contraindication for vaccination.
If the time has come to get a vaccine injection, and the child is teething with all his might, and his condition is far from perfect, he can be vaccinated. There is only one limitation - high temperature. In this case, the procedure is postponed for some time until the baby’s condition becomes stable. If there is no fever, then AFSD will not harm the baby, who is soon planning to get his first teeth.
How often will you need to be vaccinated against COVID-19?
Georgy Ignatiev, head of the general virology department at the Chumakov Center, believes that vaccination against coronavirus will most likely have to be done annually. “According to studies, those who have recovered from coronavirus infection demonstrate a decrease in the level of specific antibodies, therefore, perhaps, as in the case of influenza, people will have to be vaccinated annually, including those who previously had COVID-19 with a critical decrease in the level of antibodies,” - he explained.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said the same thing in an interview with TASS. According to her, the coronavirus is gradually turning into a seasonal virus, so it is highly likely that you will have to be vaccinated against the infection regularly. “Of course, when we take off our masks is connected with 60% of the vaccinated population, and with our citizens’ compliance with restrictive measures during this period, and with the fact that the coronavirus turns into a seasonal virus, which means, with a high degree of probability, that we We will be vaccinated regularly,” she said.
Golikova noted that neither the world nor Russia have yet accumulated sufficient experience in terms of understanding how long immune protection lasts. “Of course, now everyone is “relaxed” and believes that Covid is going away, the situation is better now, but while the virus is not going anywhere yet, we must take care of ourselves and our loved ones,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
Komarovsky's advice
- If after vaccination with DTP a child has a severe reaction, you should not blame the manufacturers of the drug and the attending pediatrician for this. According to Komarovsky, the matter is solely in the state of health of the baby at the current moment in time.
- You can try to reduce the risk of a reaction to vaccination by carefully choosing the drug. “Infanrix” and “Tetrakok” are sold in Russia, however, Evgeniy Olegovich categorically advises parents not to buy them in online pharmacies. After all, there is no guarantee that the vaccine, the cost of which is 5 thousand rubles per dose and more, was stored correctly and did not violate these rules during transportation and during delivery to the buyer.
- To make it easier for a child to tolerate the DPT vaccine, and at the same time all other vaccinations, Komarovsky strongly recommends taking proper care of him, especially during periods of his illness from viral infections. Do not stuff your baby with pills that suppress the baby’s immune defense, but provide conditions under which the child will develop strong immunity, allowing him to easily cope with both diseases and the consequences of vaccination.
- Proper care includes sufficient time in the fresh air, a balanced diet rich in vitamins and microelements; the baby should not be overfed, overwrapped, and fed with or without various medications, Komarovsky believes. A child’s normal lifestyle is the main secret of successful vaccination.
- If a reaction to DPT appears (high temperature, lethargy, loss of appetite), you need to prepare medications at home in advance to normalize the water-salt balance (Regidron) and antipyretic drugs Ibuprofen and Paracetamol.
- Komarovsky recommends spending the half hour that the doctor asks you to spend in the corridor of the clinic after the vaccination in the fresh air near the medical facility, so it will be easier for the baby to endure the “immune training.”
