It is very likely that unvaccinated students will test positive. Studies have shown that the viral load in the nose of someone infected with the delta variant is 1,000 times greater than it was with the original virus.
The CDC has new data saying that some vaccinated people who get infected may have just as high a viral load as unvaccinated people who get infected. We don’t know yet, but if vaccinated people can transmit easily, we are going to have many outbreaks unless we go back to virtual classes, limited sports, no indoor parties, dining in your room etc.
No, it does not contradict. The studies done before were on people infected with the original variant, and other variants before delta. Vaccinated people who got infected had 40% fewer viral particles in their noses. They were less likely to transmit. Now that delta is becoming dominant in many locations, we are starting to get new data.
The vaccine can certainly provide less protection against new variants, and the longer it has been since vaccination, the more immunity can fade. Thousands of scientists worldwide have done an incredible job studying this virus. They are not making unfounded claims, but many non-scientists certainly are making unfounded claims.
Those are anecdotes. Yes we are seeing an increase in cases in vaccinated people but look at my post above about the rate of infections in vaccinated people in Illinois. If you just say wow almost 600 people hospitalized -yikes! - you aren’t understanding how teeny tiny the chances still are.
In general, I do not believe colleges should be testing vaccinated students. However, this gets tricky if professors feel vulnerable despite being vaccinated themselves. What if they are over 60, undergoing treatment for cancer, or living with an autoimmune disease? They will at least want masking if they are going to teach in person, and they might want testing for all students.
We will have to wait for published, peer reviewed studies on whether vaccinated people transmit delta. Common sense says that it is unlikely in the two or three months after vaccination, because neutralizing antibodies are present in the mucus membranes. However, I have seen preliminary data saying that those fade with time. Maybe people need boosters.
@Luckyjade2024 I’m having trouble understanding your response. Could you let me know what I said that was not true?
Delta is highly contagious—possibly 1,000 times more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. Cases of delta are rising fast. So, it is very likely that unvaccinated students will eventually contract delta.
Vaccinated students may also, but we were talking about testing which colleges have stated is only for the unvaccinated (for now).
That all makes sense. I guess I just thought that an adult who works on campus who wants extra protection will wear a mask. I’m thinking anyone with young kids will be in a mask.
There’s no masking for students on Bowdoin or Colgate’s campuses right now with hundreds of kids there doing research and working. I get that it might be different if there are big groups of kids in a class. I wonder what the science would say about the profs masking if they are more vulnerable or live with young ones and if that’s enough protection without masking the whole class. I talked to s19 today. He did have one class in person last semester and said it was definitely difficult to hear people taking with everyone in masks. Wasn’t great.
But those who caught COVID-19 in that airplane were < 10% of those in the airplane, so it appears that the vaccines were > 90% effective, if everyone in the airplane was vaccinated.
You probably know how I feel about masks! They diminish the classroom experience, and they are a barrier between people who are trying to get to know each other, mentor, teach, question, debate etc. It would be frustrating if vaccinated students, who are highly unlikely to get severe or even moderate Covid, have to mask.
However, I’d rather have masking than virtual school. I hope we don’t need either. I hope studies are able to show that vaccination greatly reduces transmission, even with delta. (It would make sense if transmission was especially reduced when the infected vaccinated person is between 17 and 23.)
Hm afraid data on that won’t be coming in the next month though! Maybe fall will be dicey with schools trying different things as info drips out from different studies.
I get that but to think if a college is testing all students (Tufts and I’m sure others) - some vaccinated students will test positive. So the point above was that the unvaccinated should go get their own hotel etc…so what happens to the vaccinated positives???colleges need to provide in these cases. they can’t say your on your own.
Yes, I’m not arguing the vaccine’s effectiveness. I am saying that vaccinated students will test positive (probably very small numbers) but they should be provided for if they have to isolate.
Oh! I did not know that colleges would be testing everyone every week. If they do not also institute major mitigation measures (masks, singles, no leaving campus, six feet of distance, etc), and it’s true that the vaccinated transmit delta, then Tufts is going to find a lot of positives. Even with mitigation, there may be many outbreaks because delta is so contagious compared to the variants circulating in the 2020-2021 school year.
