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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,597
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

Someone mentioned this in a post yesterday, and today I read this explanation:

 

Lucy Tompkins
Updated Tue, February 2, 2021, 10:07 AM
 

The scattered reports from around the country can play like a cruel irony: Someone tests positive for the coronavirus even though they have already received one or both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Notable Examples

It has happened to at least three members of Congress recently:

 

— Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.

— Stephen Lynch, D-Mass.

— Lori Trahan, D-Mass.

But it has been reported in people in other walks of life, too, including Rick Pitino, a Hall of Fame basketball coach, and a nurse in California.

How Can That Happen?

Experts say cases like these are not surprising and do not indicate that there was something wrong with the vaccines or how they were administered. Here is why.

— Vaccines don’t work instantly. It takes a few weeks for the body to build up immunity after receiving a dose. And the vaccines now in use in the United States, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both require a second shot a few weeks after the first to reach full effectiveness.

— Nor do they work retroactively. You can already be infected and not know it when you get the vaccine — even if you recently tested negative. That infection can continue to develop after you get the shot but before its protection fully takes hold, and then show up in a positive test result.

— The vaccines prevent illness, but maybe not infection. COVID vaccines are being authorized based on how well they keep you from getting sick, needing hospitalization and dying. Scientists don’t know yet how effective the vaccines are at preventing the coronavirus from infecting you to begin with, or at keeping you from passing it on to others. (That is why vaccinated people should keep wearing masks and maintaining social distance.)

— Even the best vaccines aren’t perfect. The efficacy rates for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are extremely high, but they are not 100%. With the virus still spreading out of control in the United States, some of the millions of recently vaccinated people were bound to get infected in any case.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

"Breathe in, breathe out, move on." Jimmy Buffett
Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,580
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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

I knew they didn't take effect immediately. They have been saying it takes about 2 weeks for the vaccine to take effect and then you need that second dose as well.  That then stands to reason you could get sick in the meantime.  It makes me nervous that they still don't know all that much about how this vaccine works though.

 

I did read that Rita Wilson, who had Covid just 10 months ago, has no antibodies anymore which means she could get it again.      

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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

My husband had it in early times, and also tested and had no antibodies.

Respected Contributor
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Registered: ‎12-05-2012

Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

We have not had COVID but are receiving Pfizer vaccine. I suppose those antibodies will fade with time or may not provide protection from mutations.

I guess time will tell.

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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

@Lipstickdiva Antibodies are not the entire picture when it comes to immunity from a virus. T-cells have memory, too.  The human immune system is very complex, yet we are told very little about how our immune system actually works by media personalities, or even by doctors appearing on television. We are typically only told about our need to have long lasting antibodies to prove our immunity to a pathogen, unless, of course, we study this incredibly fascinating topic in high school, college, or in medical school, and we learn how there are other factors of great importance.

 

Look up "T-cell Covid immunity 'present in adults six months after first infection'"

 

Check this out from the NIH, too:

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2020/07/28/immune-t-cells-may-offer-lasting-protection-against-covid-1...

 

And from that NIH article above from Dr. Francis Collins, which reveals we may develop T-cell immuniity for way longer than just 6 months:

"All six previously known coronaviruses spark production of both antibodies and memory T cells. In addition, studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-1 have shown that T cells stick around for many years longer than acquired antibodies. So, Bertoletti’s team set out to gain a better understanding of T cell immunity against the novel coronavirus.

The researchers gathered blood samples from 36 people who’d recently recovered from mild to severe COVID-19. They focused their attention on T cells (including CD4 helper and CD8 cytotoxic, both of which can function as memory T cells). They identified T cells that respond to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, which is a structural protein inside the virus. They also detected T cell responses to two non-structural proteins that SARS-CoV-2 needs to make additional copies of its genome and spread. The team found that all those recently recovered from COVID-19 produced T cells that recognize multiple parts of SARS-CoV-2.

Next, they looked at blood samples from 23 people who’d survived SARS. Their studies showed that those individuals still had lasting memory T cells today, 17 years after the outbreak. Those memory T cells, acquired in response to SARS-CoV-1, also recognized parts of SARS-CoV-2.

Finally, Bertoletti’s team looked for such T cells in blood samples from 37 healthy individuals with no history of either COVID-19 or SARS. To their surprise, more than half had T cells that recognize one or more of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins under study here. It’s still not clear if this acquired immunity stems from previous infection with coronaviruses that cause the common cold or perhaps from exposure to other as-yet unknown coronaviruses.

What’s clear from this study is our past experiences with coronavirus infections may have something important to tell us about COVID-19. Bertoletti’s team and others are pursuing this intriguing lead to see where it will lead—not only in explaining our varied responses to the virus, but also in designing new treatments and optimized vaccines."

 

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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

Thank you all for the info!

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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why


@FastDogWalker2 wrote:

My husband had it in early times, and also tested and had no antibodies.


@FastDogWalker2 

 

I read this morning that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who battled Covid and had been being tested, showing positive for the antibodies, now show NO antibodies 9 months later.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.
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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

It's my understanding that even after vaccinated a person can still carry and transmit the virus. So what that means is the vaccine protects the person who gets vaccinated but not the people around them. The usual mask wearing and SDing still needs to be done.

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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

@SilleeMee 

 

That's my understanding too, we still need to follow the current protocol after being vaccinated.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.
Respected Contributor
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Re: Some Test Positive After Being Vaccinated. Here Is Why

Hardly a surprise.  The vaccines for flu, shingles, pneumonia, and other conditions don't take effect immediately either.  The body needs time to build up antibodies in reaction to them.