Study Finds The Second Covid-19 Shot Increases Risk Of Infections By 44%
Findings show that individuals who received their second dose of the vaccine are 44% more likely to become infected compared to those who did not get vaccinated.
According to one recent study by Oxford University, a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine can make you 44% more likely to get infected with Coronavirus. The study looked at reports of adults in England (a total of 9.1 million people) who were infected from December 2020 to November 2021. While the published study focuses on the BMI-associated risks and effectiveness of the vaccine, the reported infections are tucked away in the supplementary index.
Will Jones from The Daily Sceptic highlighted three figures in yellow below. Note that the table shows “OR” – odd ratios. A number above one indicates that vaccinated people are at a higher risk of getting infected. The first two figures Jones highlighted show that individuals receiving their first shot were three to four times more likely to test positive for the virus in the first two weeks compared to their nonvaccinated counterparts.
Image Source: The Daily Skeptic/The Lancet
The third figure highlighted in yellow shows that two weeks or more after the second dose, individuals were 44% more likely to become infected compared to those who were unvaccinated. The authors of the paper actually acknowledged their findings, even writing, “Surprisingly, we observed a higher risk of test positivity after vaccination with one or two doses across all BMI groups, which is contrary to evidence reported by the U.K. ONS.” For vaccine supporters, the study also displays the Covid-19 vaccines' effectiveness in lowering rates of hospitalization and deaths in people who received the third dose. However, the study ended in mid-November, so the conclusions are only based on a few months of data.
In 2021, a study published by The BMJ found that a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine gradually increased the risk of Covid-19 infection after 90 days. The findings confirmed the shot did provide protection weeks after the dose but suggested the protection decreased over time. “After taking account of other potentially influential factors, the researchers found a significantly increased risk of infection with time elapsed since a second dose,” The BMJ writes. And in April 2022, federal data suggested infections were worse in those who were boosted compared to those who weren't. However, despite all of this data and reports of “breakthrough infections,” the CDC website still claims the Covid-19 vaccination reduces the risk of infection by 91% in fully vaccinated individuals.
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