Covid in Scotland: John Swinney urged to scrap vaccine passports

[Amity Island]

John Swinney is under pressure to abandon vaccine passports after a study found the double-jabbed are just as likely to pass on Covid-19 as unvaccinated people.

The effectiveness of vaccines in curbing transmission — particularly with AstraZeneca doses — wanes over time, according to a study that appears to undermine the reasoning behind new laws requiring proof of vaccination to enter football grounds and nightclubs.

Covid in Scotland: John Swinney urged to scrap vaccine passports

John Swinney is under pressure to abandon vaccine passports after a study found the double-jabbed are just as likely to pass on Covid-19 as unvaccinated people.The effectiveness of vaccines in curbing transmission — particularly with AstraZeneca doses — wanes over time, according to a study that app

www.thetimes.co.uk

 

[mikeyB]

How do the know the vaccine effect wanes over time? What are they looking for, antibodies or T-cells?

As a by the way, I go to Blackburn Rovers to watch the footie. On the big screen, every so often, comes the message “Test before coming to the game”. There is no compulsion to show evidence for this, mind.

I could cast doubt on the premise of that article, it has not been reported in the Scottish press, and I’m sure John Swinney feels under no pressure if it just comes from the English press. Nobody in Scotland seems to mind vaccine passports other than a minor irritation. Scotland generally has been less cavalier about Covid safety, and has a lower death rate than England as a result.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

How do the know the vaccine effect wanes over time? What are they looking for, antibodies or T-cells?

As far as I know they're looking at antibodies and infections. (So pretty much antibodies, really. And yes, it's completely unsurprising.)

I'm not aware of any signal that protection against serious disease is waning (which is what the vaccines were trialled for), so the news stories feel rather misleading: the vaccines are still doing really well, and are still providing ~50% or more effectiveness against infection. (However, given that the NHS is under stress at the best of times and the government (in England) has decided to rely entirely on vaccination, the drop in effectiveness against infection seems relevant.)

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I thought they claimed 90-95% against infection from the trials they did?

I think the original trials didn't look at infection so much as symptomatic infection or (more importantly) some level of sickness (I think there were slightly different endpoints for different trials). I think one or two trials (Ox/AZ ran several) did do regular testing, but the main endpoints were something more serious than mere infection.