BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb 22, 2021– Many people around the world are anticipating the day when there is some sort of normalcy. As the date of vaccination rollout in Belize nears, many Belizeans wonder if vaccination will result in the discontinuance of mask-wearing.
Dr. Natalia Largaespada-Beer, internationally recognized recipient of the PAHO Award for Health Services Management and Leadership; and Dr. Marcelo Coyi, resident obstetrician and gynecologist at Belize Medical Associates, say the contrary.
Despite being protected from severe illness due to the virus, vaccinated persons may still become mildly infected. In cases where that (mild infection) occurs, there is still a possibility for vaccinated persons to transmit the illness. Dr. Beer uses the case of the measles vaccines to explain the situation. “We provided the measles vaccine. We don’t have cases of measles since 1981. If someone that is vaccinated gets in contact with a person that has measles, well, they might get the disease when they come in contact with someone with measles. If by any chance, their immune response was not the very best, they might get the measles, but very mild. They wouldn’t even know they have the measles. And the same thing can happen with the COVID-19 vaccine,” she said.
As a result, vaccinated persons are still advised to follow all preventative measures such as hand-washing and mask-wearing. Although these vaccinated persons will be afforded a level of protection, they are not fully immune and may risk transmitting illness to the unvaccinated.
“There are two types of antibodies: binding antibodies and neutralizing antibodies. The binding ones, it does just that. It binds to the virus and then it doesn’t allow you to get the severe disease. The neutralizing bodies, on the other hand, as the moment you get it, it kills it. So it means that it all depends on the vaccine.” Dr. Coyi continued to explain. “If it has a neutralizing agent, you may ask, does it stop infection? We don’t know. So that’s why we are saying you can get the vaccine, but if you’re then exposed, you can get the infection. You may not suffer, but you may be able to pass it on so [vaccinated persons] simply don’t know. The best thing is to take all of the preventive measures that we are doing at the moment. That will continue until we see the drastic decrease in the rate of infection,” he said.
Dr. Beer then advises the public that this should not dissuade them from being vaccinated. She says, “Remember, it’s a new vaccine. Data is being collected as we speak. So we have to wait on those results to measure what level of protection against infection. And we know that they reduce the transmissibility, but there is transmission that can occur. But what they’re starting off with all the vaccines, Covid-19 vaccines, is that it reduces the severe illness, hospitalization. And so it is Covid-19 vaccine that saves lives. And that is the objective.”