The Health Department confirmed Sunday that 514 people vaccinated with at least the first dose against COVID-19 in Puerto Rico have been diagnosed with the coronavirus after vaccination.
“These are situations that must be analyzed well to have a clear and convincing picture,” said Dr. Yonaica Plaza Santiago, director of the Municipal System for Investigation of Cases and Tracking of Contacts of Puerto Rico (SMICRC), in an interview with the press.
The doctor reiterated that exposure to COVID-19 and infection with the coronavirus in those cases could have occurred days before the vaccination with the first dose or even after the person has been inoculated, within a period in which the organism has not developed sufficient protection against SARS-CoV-2.
Plaza, in fact, also confirmed that there are 43 people with positive results in a molecular test and 9 with a positive result in an antigen test – both diagnoses – after having received the two doses of the vaccine, in the case of Pfizer drugs and Moderna, “and after 14 days to a month (having been vaccinated) they have tested positive.” The doctor stressed that all the information available so far is preliminary, but that a more in-depth analysis is already underway, to reach accurate conclusions.
“We have to look at the exposure factors, batch factors (of the vaccine), which is the specific vaccine, then do another type of analysis, that is under investigation, little by little all these data are being collected,” he said.
The director of the tracking system explained that the trackers, through the investigations, are including as part of their questions if the person with a positive result in the molecular or antigen test has already been vaccinated, and if it is one or two dosage, among other inquiries.
The tracking system observes these data while attending to a consistent rise in COVID-19 infections among the population and at a time when only 15.3% (489,472) of Puerto Rico residents completed their vaccination process – with two doses or single dose, in the case of Janssen-, according to the database of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, in English), a figure still far from 70%, the minimum necessary for the island achieve the longed for herd immunity. According to the CDC, 25.9% (827,538) of the population have already received their first dose of vaccine.
Plaza emphasized that the three vaccines used so far in the United States – Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen – are safe and effective, but vaccination is a prevention tool that does not translate into abandoning the rest of the basic measures that experts have repeated since the beginning of the pandemic, especially taking into account that the majority of the population has not yet been vaccinated.
“I think the vaccination is being carried out very well, the response is excellent, but I understand that the population has had a false sense of confidence in the vaccine, they have been neglected. Being vaccinated does not exempt us from getting infected, but rather it minimizes the symptoms ”, emphasized the doctor, reiterating that it is not the time to lower our guard or stop practicing preventive measures.
“I know it sounds a bit trite, but the most important thing is to be aware that, although we are in this successful vaccination process, it is always important to maintain measurements, guarantee a distance of six feet from people, use of masks, wash hands. It is prevention, specifically with people who do not live under our same roof, ”she said.
