I’ve been in a few discussions recently with people concerned that the COVID vaccinations don’t work because vaccinated people are testing positive.
Vaccinations are a running head start, not a protective bubble.
You could breathe in a Corona Virus at any time.
It will reproduce.
If vaccinated, or if you previously had COVID, your body should quickly recognize the virus and create antibiodies such as T cells to stop it from reproducing.
If unvaccinated or never infected, your body reacts slower.
How effective your body fights it off is dependent on
- your overall health including pre existing immune system issues such as cancer or smoking.
- how much the virus has mutated changing receptor shape.
People with weak immune systems, even with two shots, often cant make enough antibodies fast enough to stop the virus from reproducing.
The concern is the virus constantly mutates in every replication, RNA is very unstable.
- so far the MRNA vaccines such as Pfizer & Moderna have been effective in training the body to recognize the different receptor forms of the virus.
- The Chinese (adenovirus style) vaccine is apparently failing against the Delta variant as tragically occurring in Indonesia.
( note, some vaccine manufacturers such as Merck apparently couldn’t develop an effective vaccine).
Testing Positive for Corona virus requires:
1. A swab to obtain viral material
2. Converting the virus RNA to DNA
3. Increasing the number of virus so it can be detected. Heat cycles are used, each cycle doubles the number.
4. Fluorescence is used to determine the virus levels.
If the virus is detected in less than 38 doubling cycles you are positive.
At 40 cycles you are negative
38-40 is inconclusive.
Obviously a test is only a snapshot in time.
The variant strains ( Delta, Lambda, etc ) can still be determined as positive or negative.
Determining which strain requires advanced genome testing.
Everyday use masks don’t fully stop airborne COVID. Virus are much smaller than the fabric weave of a face mask.
However masks do contain the spread of droplets.
Most diseases including COVID are readily and easily spread by exhaled droplets.
So wearing a mask has positive benefits, especially when other illnesses such as strep throat, colds are prevelant in the schools & workplace, it’s just not a guarantee.
Thus if any airborne transmitted disease case counts go up significantly in an area you are exposed to, masks can be beneficial.
I highly recommend the book “The Great Influenza” by John Barry, about the Spanish Flu (H1N1) of 1918.
Has easy to understand explanations of how Flu viruses affect the body and how they mutate.
SME, please correct my errors, especially simplified version on how testing works.
Last edited by Ready.Fire.Aim; 07-23-21 at 11:23.
Reason: Revised wording based on feedback.
"Jill, if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony ... take that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house,.." VP Joe Biden Feb 19, 2013
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