Mingling among vaccinated may make vax appear less effective
Canadian researchers are warning that COVID-19 vaccines can appear ineffective when vaccinated people have more contact with each other than with unvaccinated people
Increased contact among vaccinated people can give the false impression that COVID-19 vaccines are not working, Canadian researchers warn.
Some studies have suggested that vaccinated individuals are becoming infected at higher rates than unvaccinated individuals.
But these studies are likely to involve statistical errors, particularly if they do not account for different contact patterns among vaccinated versus unvaccinated people, according to Dr Korryn Bodner (PhD) of St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.
Her team looked at how contact heterogeneity, which refers to different levels of contact among and between different groups of people, can impact observed vaccine effectiveness.
