‘No proof’ that unvaccinated people spread variants

SOME scientists have cast doubt on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assertions that unvaccinated people will spread variants more than vaccinated people, saying there is no scientific proof so far to back his statement.

Ramaphosa said this during his national address on Thursday in which he took the country to lockdown level 1 and used most of his address to encourage South Africans be vaccinated and to launch operation Vuma.

The president said being vaccinated was not only about protecting yourself and those around you. ”It is also about preventing new and more dangerous variants from emerging, as the virus is able to spread and mutate in unvaccinated populations.”

However, this statement was received with scepticism from social media users as well as by some of the leading health experts. Professor Linda-Gail Bekker from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Desmond Tutu HIV Centre said although it is known that unvaccinated individuals are more likely to become infected, none of the current Covid-19 vaccines offer 100% protection against infection.

Bekker, who is also a co-lead investigator of the Sisonke trial administering the Covid-19 Johnson & Johnson vaccine to healthcare workers, confirmed that this means that it is not only in the unvaccinated where infection can occur.

“Mutation can occur in anyone who becomes infected but it is more likely to occur where replication is prolonged … in other words when it takes a long time for the individual to clear the virus. This is thought to be longer in unvaccinated than vaccinated individuals. No unvaccinated people spread the same viruses as vaccinated people,” she said.

South African Medical Association (Sama) chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee said a concern at this point in time would be that vaccinated people and non-vaccinated people will spread the same virus.

“Vaccinated people due to their antibody response will however spread far less with a viral load than unvaccinated people.”

However, according to Dr Raynauld Russon, an independent researcher and sociotherapist, the subject of viruses is very complex and convoluted.

He said coronaviruses mutate rapidly and can do so two to three times during the flu season as an example.

They do this mainly to protect themselves and to reproduce like many other species do.

Viruses mutate in two ways, ie, antigenic shift and antigenic drift, he said, adding that the Covid-19 strains that are reported must be understood within this context.

“The question is whether these strains are as a result of an antigenic shift or an antigenic drift. Let us look at how this may affect vaccinated and unvaccinated persons: vaccinated persons: antigenic shift: vaccines inject you with the virus either in its wholesome form, attenuated/weakened form or with portions of the virus such as its DNA/RNA.

“The intention is to teach your body to produce immunity (soldiers) that can fight and destroy the virus. The fact of the matter is that you have been injected with the virus and if for some reason you have another similar virus strain in your body, the two viruses may have sex (conjugate) to produce a new strain.

“Remember that the current vaccines are carrying the 2019 coronavirus strain and over the last two flu seasons new coronavirus strains have existed. Let us say, for argument’s sake, that in 2020 the coronavirus flu strain was Covid-20 and for 2021 it was Covid-21.

“So it is highly probable that when one is vaccinated with the 2019 virus strain in 2021 this virus will find a sex partner in your body and conjugate thus increasing the likelihood of antigenic shift.

“This is the main reason why science has never been able to produce a vaccine that can conquer the influenza virus.

“Vaccine development is always behind and cannot cope with the speed of coronavirus mutation.

“Antigenic drift: this possibility is also high among vaccinated persons because as soon as you vaccinate the virus begins to fight for its survival and mutates to protect itself. It is for this reason that there is talk of booster shots to try and deal with the rapid antigenic drift of the virus as it tries to survive.

“Non-vaccinated persons: antigenic shift: this can only happen if you have two viruses coexisting in your body at the same time. Covid-19 is a virus strain that emerged in 2019 and many people who were infected have developed natural immunity against it.

“Many people got infected and some were asymptomatic and did not even know that they were infected. It has not been proven that the virus remains dormant in your body after your body defeats it. It is therefore highly unlikely that anybody still harbours a 2019 variant of the coronavirus.

“Tests are not made to isolate the genome variants of the virus but to test the symptoms. The coexistence of two strains of the virus in persons who are not vaccinated is possible but very rare and this makes the antigenic shift less likely.

“Antigenic drift: this is also less likely to happen to people who have not vaccinated because the virus is not threatened and does not develop the urgent need to mutate in order to protect itself. However, it cannot be totally discounted because the body develops its natural immunity to engulf the virus and this may lead to this form of mutation.”

Asked if vaccinated people spread different variants from those spread by unvaccinated people, Russon said: “Vaccinated people are likely to spread both new forms and modified forms of the virus while unvaccinated people are less likely to spread both forms of the virus.”