The number of infections with the omicron variant is rapidly increasing in many countries. At the same time, the number of myths about this is also multiplying. Many, for example, argue that those who are vaccinated are more likely to become infected with the coronavirus than those who are not vaccinated. The results of some studies are attached as “evidence”. Let’s look at a few specific examples.
RKI fixes errors in published data
“The German government says 96 percent of omicron cases are those who are vaccinated,” wrote one Twitter user. In addition, a graph allegedly made by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) circulates on social networks, which provides data for the period from November 21 to December 27, 2021. According to them, 69 percent of Germans who contracted the omicron variant were vaccinated, 27 percent even got a booster shot – and only 4 percent were unvaccinated. But are these numbers really real?
When asked by DW, an RKI spokesperson wrote back that this graph was not made by the Robert Koch Institute – but the data it contains was indeed published in the RKI Weekly Report of December 30, 2021.
Schedule used by opponents of vaccination
“Unfortunately, there was an error in the corresponding section of the weekly report (instead of 186 people, the figure was indicated as 1097 unvaccinated, infected with the omicron variant),” the spokeswoman wrote. When updating the data, one more figure was forgotten, and on January 3, changes were made again. These corrections are clearly highlighted in the updated version.
But in any case, the data published by the RKI cannot serve as a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of vaccination. At the same time, the press secretary points to the RKI website, which says that with an increase in the proportion of those vaccinated, their proportion among those infected with coronavirus will naturally increase.
It is also clear that the greater the total number of coronavirus infections, the greater the number of infected among those vaccinated. 71.6 percent of the inhabitants of Germany (as of January 7) are fully vaccinated. Cases of coronavirus vaccinees, however, do not mean that the vaccine is not effective. Although the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, it still protects against severe covid.
Booster vaccine strengthens the immune system
The results of the first studies show that the vaccine does not protect as well against “omicron” as against other variants of the coronavirus. However, they also show that two vaccinations against coronavirus for a certain time still protect against a severe course of the disease.
Coronavirus vaccine
There is more good news: the first results of international studies suggest that booster vaccinations provide very reliable protection against a new variant of the coronavirus. A BioNTech/Pfizer study even found that three shots worked as well against Omicron as two shots against the original coronavirus.
The effectiveness of booster vaccines is confirmed in an interview with DW by virologist Wolfgang Preiser. He is one of those researchers in South Africa who discovered the omicron variant. “The most important thing we have (in South Africa. – Ed.) there are almost no vaccinated people in intensive care units,” Preiser says. And vaccinations protect against illness and death, so vaccination is still needed to fight the coronavirus.
Danish data misinterpreted
Vaccine opponents are now pointing to the results of a study from Denmark, which allegedly shows that the effectiveness of the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against “omicron” even becomes negative after three months. One Twitter user writes that those who are vaccinated with BioNTech are 76.5 percent more likely to be infected with the omicron than those who are unvaccinated. In grafted Moderna – by 39.3 percent.
Anti-vaccination protesters in Prague
But this study, which has not been independently evaluated, focuses on how well both vaccines protect against omicron. The estimated efficacy of the vaccines in the study is based on a comparison of the rates of infection among those who were twice vaccinated and those who were not vaccinated in the first weeks after the omicron variant was discovered in Denmark.
The vaccinated behave differently than the unvaccinated
At first glance, these studies do show that both vaccines have been reduced to negative efficacy. But is it? We spoke with Christian Holm Hansen, study co-author and epidemiologist in Copenhagen. According to Hansen, this is a statistical distortion of the results.
“One of the reasons we see a high infection rate in the immunized population is that the vaccinated get tested more often than the unvaccinated,” he says. Therefore, among them more cases of infections are detected. In addition, only vaccinated and recovered people can attend various cultural events and go on vacation, where the risk of infection is also higher. But this does not mean that they are more likely to become infected due to vaccination. This was also pointed out by the authors of the study. In addition, in Denmark there are many more vaccinated than unvaccinated: almost 80 percent of Danes already have two vaccinations.
But this study has, in addition to the statistical one, another flaw. It refers only to the number of infected vaccinated and unvaccinated, but does not distinguish between mild and severe illness.
Conclusion: data from Germany and Denmark do not prove that vaccines do not work against “omicron” and that this variant of the coronavirus is more contagious for the vaccinated than for the unvaccinated. Such data is deliberately manipulated by opponents of vaccination. Approved vaccines, although not as effective against Omicron as against other variants, still provide protection against a severe course of the disease. Early studies also show that booster vaccination significantly increases protection against infection and severe disease.
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