Vaccination Shows Little Efficacy in Slowing Spread of Covid 19 in Brazil

First Published: 10th of April, 2021 by Patrick Carpen.

Since the start of the Covid-19 vaccination program in mid-Janaury, 2021 in Brazil, the Covid 19 infection curve shows little to no signs of flattening. To the contrary, it seems to be going upward along with the number of daily deaths.

To put things into perspective, in December 2020, one month before the start of the vaccination program in Brazil, the daily average infection rate was about 40,000 new cases per day. In the first two weeks of January, the daily average infection rate was also about 40,000 new cases per day. But during the last two weeks of January, 2021, the daily infection rate shot up to about 50,000 new cases per day on a 7-day average. By the end of January, 2021, about 2 million people had been administered at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

Throughout February, 2021, the infection rate remained at about 50,000 new cases per day on a 7-day average. By the end of February, 2021, over 6.5 million people had been administered at least one dose of the vaccine, and over 1.9 million had been fully vaccinated.

But by the 7th of March, the 7-day average had shot up to more than 60,000 new cases per day. And it kept climbing. By the end of March, the 7-day average daily infection rate rose to 77,000 new cases per day in Brazil. Ironically, by the end of March, 2021, over 14 million people had been administered at least 1 dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and over 4 million had been fully vaccinated.

So far for the month of April, the 7-day average of daily infection rate leveled at about 66,000. However, Brazil recorded one of its highest daily infection rate yesterday, 9th of April, 2021: 93,313 new cases – at a point where nearly 6 million had been fully vaccinated and nearly 20 million had received at least one dose. Further, the daily number of deaths, which had been also climbing since vaccination began, reached a 7-day average of 3000+ in the first week of April, 2021 – the highest ever since the start of the pandemic.

We can see a direct relationship then between daily infection rates and number of vaccinated persons. Unfortunately, this relationship is not in favor of the vaccination program. What we can see is that infection rates are climbing with vaccination.

So what exactly might be the cause of this? One possible explanation is over-confidence. People who have received the vaccine probably feel that they are now immune so they throw away the mask and go drinking and sporting. However, the vaccine only teaches the immune system how to recognize and fight the virus; it does not stop the virus from entering the body. So, while the vaccinated persons might feel little to no symptoms, they go about unknowingly spreading the virus to a larger number of unsuspecting persons many of whom might be close friends and relatives.

But that’s not all. The vaccine, while it does give you some amount of immunity, doesn’t guarantee that you won’t fall sick from Covid-19. You can, especially if you have underlying medical conditions such as HIV, diabetes, or high blood pressure. People with underlying medical conditions run a higher risk of developing the more severe symptoms of Covid-19.

So, is it a case of the vaccine not working? Absolutely not. Covid-19 vaccines have been through extensive testing and trials before they were released to the public. But even so, the vaccine is not a magic cure. While the vaccine does teach your immune system to recognize and fight off the covid-19 virus, the effectiveness with which your body does so depends on a variety of factors such as your overall health, diet, and exercise program.

So what is the solution to all this? Understand that the vaccine, while it reduces your risk of getting sick and dying from Covid-19, does not prevent the virus from entering your body, and it does not prevent you from transmitting it to people close to you even though you cannot feel symptoms of it. Further, understand that having been vaccinated, while it greatly reduces your risk of getting sick and dying from the virus, is no absolute guarantee that you won’t.

In conclusion, we can all play a greater role in banishing covid-19 from the presence of humanity by taking the vaccine and continuing to wear masks and practice social distancing until the covid-19 virus diminishes to a non-existent level. At that point, we’ll know that we have defeated the virus and life can return to “normal.”