Rates of infection exceedingly low following COVID-19 vaccination, Manitoba data suggests
Only 0.08% of Manitobans who got at least 1 dose tested positive within 2-week period before immunity set in
Only a small fraction of Manitobans who have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine have gotten infected after the two-week period necessary to build up immunity, provincial data suggests.
In the two weeks after receiving a first dose, when the protection of the vaccine hasn't yet set in, 162 people out of more than 192,100 reported COVID-19 infections — or roughly 0.08 per cent, according to provincial data.
Twelve in that group were hospitalized and four died, according to the province.
Outside of that two-week period after receiving a first dose, when the vaccine has begun to confer immunity in most people, provincial data shows the ratios of those infected or hospitalized were even lower
About 0.06 per cent — or 111 people out of about 192,100 — went on to test positive 14 days or more after receiving a dose, and nine ended up in hospital. Six died, the province says.
Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine roll out, says it takes the immune system at least 14 days to produce antibodies capable of recognizing and fighting off the virus.
"Any infection that occurs during the first two weeks after you receive a dose of the vaccine was either contracted before the dose was given or before the body had that time to mount an immune response," she said on Wednesday during a news conference.
"The data shows us that after people have had an immune response, the vaccine shows significant benefits of reducing a chance of infection and in reducing the serious side effects of the virus."
The data of people post-second dose suggests infection, hospitalizations and deaths are lower still.
Twenty four out of more than 67,700 people got COVID-19 within two weeks of receiving their second doses — roughly 0.04 per cent — and three of them were hospitalized. None died, the province says.
Another nine were infected at least two weeks after receiving a second dose, or about 0.01 per cent. As of Wednesday, there have been zero hospitalizations related to COVID-1 post-second dose of vaccine, according to the province.
Only a tiny proportion of people who test positive after receiving a first or second dose, but that's also why health officials recommend sticking to the fundamentals post-vaccination, said Reimer.
WATCH | Vaccine already shows significant protection in immunized Manitobans, says Reimer:
"While we know that the vaccines are very effective at reducing rates of infection and slowing transmission of the virus, particularly after those 14 days, nothing is 100 per cent effective.
"This is why we still encourage people to continue to follow the fundamentals: stay home if sick, reduce their number of close contacts, wear a mask with others from outside their household."
So far, 21.5 per cent of Manitoba adults have received at least one dose.
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With files from Bartley Kives