Reason to be vaccinated by DrLeanaWen

Dr Leana Wen 

"If you are vaccinated, you are six times less likely to get Covid-19 than someone who's unvaccinated. And you are 11 times less likely to die from Covid-19." @DrLeanaWen explains why vaccines are effective despite breakthrough cases

When we see vaccinated people dying from Covid-19, how do you explain that vaccines are still worth taking?

Dr. Leana Wen: We need to start with the science and what the research shows. The Covid-19 vaccines are extraordinarily effective in preventing illness and especially severe disease. The most recent data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that they reduce the likelihood of testing positive for Covid 19

That means that if you are vaccinated, you are six times less likely to get Covid-19 than someone who's unvaccinated. And you are 11 times less likely to die from Covid-19 compared to an unvaccinated person. That's really excellent.

However, the Covid-19 vaccines do not protect you 100%. No vaccine does, just likely virtually no medical treatment is 100% effective. That doesn't mean the vaccine doesn't work, or that you shouldn't take it.

You've said before that vaccines work best when everyone takes them, right?

Wen: Exactly. Think of the Covid-19 vaccine as a very good raincoat. It works very well to protect you in a drizzle. But if you're in a thunderstorm, and then a hurricane comes, there's a much greater chance that you'll get wet. That doesn't mean your raincoat is defective. It means that you are in bad weather, and the raincoat alone may not always protect you.

If you are around a lot of virus, that increases your chance of getting infected. The problem isn't the vaccine -- it's that there is too much virus around you.

That's why the key is to get as many people vaccinated as possible. That reduces the overall rate of infection and ends up protecting everyone. And, if you are in an area with a lot of virus, wearing a mask in indoor crowded spaces adds an additional level of protection.

And let's not forget that we also get vaccinated to protect the most vulnerable among us, who are at the highest risk for severe outcomes.

A study of 13 states over six months showed that fully vaccinated individuals made up only 4percent of all hospitalizations from Covid 19 

Unvaccinated people are 17 times more likely to be hospitalized for coronavirus than fully vaccinated adults, according to that CDC study. Those who end up with breakthrough cases resulting in hospitalization are more likely to be older and to have multiple underlying medical conditions, as we discussed.

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What are other things you would say to those who don't believe the vaccine is effective?

Wen: I'd ask them to think about other aspects of medicine. Let's say that someone has heart disease. There are medications to treat heart disease, but they aren't 100% effective -- nothing is. Just because someone ends up with an exacerbation of their disease and in the hospital, doesn't mean that the medications aren't worth taking.

Or let's use an example of prevention. Let's say that someone who eats a healthy diet and exercises a lot still ends up with high blood pressure and diabetes. That doesn't mean diet and exercise aren't good to do. It just means that you can take all the right steps to prevent a disease, but sometimes you still could get the disease.

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