SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — As more and more people that are vaccinated and boosted become sick with COVID-19 due to breakthrough infections, it's increasingly apparent that the vaccinated portion of the population suffers milder illness than those who are unvaccinated.
And those who are vaccinated are less likely to contract the virus overall. According to recently published numbers by the CDC, those who are unvaccinated are 13 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 68 times more likely to die from the virus, than those who are vaccinated.
"The CDC is constantly updating the information about how well the vaccines work," said Dr. Dean Blumberg, UC Davis Health infectious disease specialist, on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" with Holly Quan and Matt Bigler on Monday.
"This is critically important because the variants are changing."
While it's been pretty clear for a while how effective the vaccines are against delta, omicron presented a new puzzle for health experts. Now, the recently published numbers on the site reflect the vaccine's effectiveness in the face of omicron.
The numbers speak for themselves, said Blumberg, those who aren't vaccinated have a nearly 70% increased chance of dying from COVID-19.
"It's like wearing a seatbelt or not driving drunk," he said. "You want to take care of yourself."
Even those who have immunity gained from previous infections are still highly at risk of reinfection.
Although there is likely still a small portion who haven't been vaccinated but are open to the option, "But I think for the vast majority of people, they have their minds made up."
Blumberg is doubtful that the stark numbers will be effective in persuading this group to get vaccinated. "People can justify things in very illogical ways," he said.
The vaccines don't prevent breakthrough infections from happening, but they are doing their job at preventing serious illness and hospitalization. With increased levels of vaccination and natural immunity in the population, the pandemic can reach a turning point.
"Eventually everybody is going to have some kind of, at least partial, immunity to COVID-19," he said. "That's going to mean we're going to enter a post-pandemic period where infections will be relatively mild in the vast majority of people."
In the meantime, vaccine manufacturers are working on a variant-specific form of the vaccine to reflect the changes brought on by omicron, said Blumberg.
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