Yes, you may still contract coronavirus if you are vaccinated. Though the available vaccinations are incredibly effective, breakthrough infections are possible. Breakthrough infections have shown to be much less severe than in those who have contracted COVID-19 without being vaccinated. Increased risk factors such as pre-existing conditions like cardiovascular disease or autoimmune disorders will make a breakthrough infection more likely.
 
Though these infections are not common, there has been an increased prevalence of COVID-19 cases in vaccinated people due to the reduction of other adequate precautions, like mask mandates and social distancing. While vaccines work to lessen transmission, virulence is not entirely diminished.

The COVID-19 vaccine works by introducing genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA). In the body, mRNA is a natural and essential material used to transmit coded DNA information to another cell structure, ribosomes, that will read the codes to create proteins necessary for living and daily functioning. In COVID-19, spike proteins are used to attach to healthy host cells. Once the COVID-19 Virus has adhered, it injects its viral RNA and uses the host’s ribosomes to produce viral proteins. This process continues, and the host cells’ resources and structures are used to replicate the virus.
 
With the COVID-19 vaccine, injected mRNA contains only a specific genetic code for the spike protein seen on the virus. Once injected into the body, the mRNA will be read by ribosomes to create some spike proteins, which are harmless on their own. The host’s antibodies will recognize the spike protein as foreign and attack. The immune system will then store memory of the viral properties. This means if you ever contact it again, your body will already know what to do, and the immune defense will be faster and stronger than it would be without the vaccine. This process is termed the adaptive immune response.

To understand how a vaccine can help stop the spread of a virus, it is essential to know how a virus behaves and how variants develop. An R₀, pronounced as R naught, is a mathematical value used to indicate how contagious or reproductive a virus is in a population. If an R₀ value is calculated to be over 1, meaning each existing infection will cause one new infection, it will result in a growth of active cases. The R₀ of COVID-19 was initially calculated to be 1.4 – 2.4 by the World Health Organization (WHO), though more recent studies have concluded higher.
 
By understanding the importance of this value, we can begin to understand how COVID-19 has spread to a global level. Populations adhering to COVID-19 precautions, such as social distancing, isolation, and mask-wearing, have reduced the R₀ value. The goal with pandemic outbreaks is to reach herd immunity, in which a majority of the population has immunity to a virus through vaccinations.
 
With herd immunity, a virus is being transmitted less, mutated less, and does not survive in a host for as long. Over time, the virus will slowly die out as it cannot survive as well in hosts. As long as a virus has time to reproduce and mutate, variants are expected to rise. Mutations that put a virus at an advantage, as seen with the Delta-variant and Omicron-variant, will wreak more havoc on the population by increasing illness severity and virulence.
 
Most COVID-19 mutations affect the spike protein, a virus structure that binds it to a healthy cell in a host. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines work by targeting proteins in the virus, such as the spike protein. Because of this, vaccines may be less effective if the targeted protein has been mutated, though it does not make the vaccine ineffective. The diversity in administered vaccinations and their efficacy also slows the reaching herd immunity. However, through herd immunity, the spread of variants is guaranteed to be decreased.

The COVID-19 vaccine works to reduce three things: the likelihood of getting the disease, the shedding period, the amount of shedding virus. The shedding of a virus is a period in which reproduced viral particles are expelled from the host’s body to infect new hosts.
 
This period for COVID-19 is believed to extend for weeks and begins before symptoms may appear but is much shorter and weaker with vaccination. By reducing these three factors, the likelihood of contracting coronavirus declines.

At Pine Knob Urgent Care, we offer the following COVID-19 vaccinations: Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, vaccinations and boosters for adults and children are provided here. You can book an appointment online or by phone. We also conveniently accept walk-ins. We serve patients from Clarkston MI, Waterford Twp MI, Oxford MI, Ortonville MI, Lake Orion MI, Pontiac MI, Springfield Township MI, and Auburn Hills MI.