To tackle the explosion of Omicron infections, several governments have started heavily deploying booster jabs to raise individual and group immunity—including those of France, UK, US, and Germany. Similar to the first two doses of the COVID vaccine, the booster jab also increases protection against existing variants, but it does not necessarily guarantee that you will never get infected.
Discover our latest podcast
While scientists are rushing to find out whether Omicron has the ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity, some fully vaccinated people have fallen victim to the Omicron variant.
Breakthrough cases
A study, conducted by German and South African researchers, revealed that seven German adults between the ages of 25 and 39 had breakthrough infections despite having received a full course of vaccination, including the booster jab.
According to German newspaper Der Tagesspiegal, the group had been in South Africa since early November—four of them were medical interns who worked in several local hospitals and the other three were on vacation. When they first reached the country, they had tested negative but somewhere between the end of the month and early December, they got infected with the Omicron variant.
Fortunately, none of the infected patients needed to be admitted to the hospital. The researchers noted:
All cases described their symptoms as mild or moderate and none required hospitalisation during the observation period.
Blood oxygenation levels remained in the normal range without exception.
Importance of vaccination
Professor Wolfgang Preiser, co-author of the study, has maintained that vaccination is still an important tool of protection. He added that the cases only emphasised the need to be vigilant and follow other precautionary measures along with getting vaccinated. He said, according to a translation by Vision Times:
Of course you shouldn’t misunderstand that vaccination doesn’t help. On the contrary: It only shows that even the best possible vaccination is obviously not enough to prevent infection – which we already suspected.
But you have to be aware that even this does not prevent an infection 100 percent. In other words: You have to continue to adhere to the precautionary measures.
