A vaccination grants a person immunity, which in turn means that if that person then came into contact with the virus and became infected, the infection would only last a short time.
Dr Schockmel added that recent studies also suggest that if a vaccinated person becomes infected, they only have a very limited quantity of the virus in their nose. The less virus there is in the nose, the less infected a person is, explained the Hôpitaux Robert Schuman’s infectious disease expert.
A vaccination thus not only grants protection from the virus but will also make it possible for vaccinated people to be exempt from taking tests, he added.
If a vaccinated person comes into contact with an at-risk patient, they can also be allowed to forgo going into quarantine, except of course if they develop symptoms.
During his interview, Dr Schockmel expressed his confidence that the vaccines will allow the population a return to “some sort of normalcy”.
Regarding the discussions surrounding side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr Schockmel stressed that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) released some very important information on Wednesday, for example that a thrombosis is not a direct side effect but only occurs one to two weeks after a person has received their jab.
Another important piece of information, Dr Schockmel continued, is that hospitals actually have tests they can carry out to determine whether a patient suffers from this particular side effect.
In addition, there are also ways to treat the condition. According to Dr Schockmel, all of this means that doctors and hospital staff have in fact a way of handling this very rare risk factor, if it occurs.
Dr Schockmel also pointed out that it should not be forgotten that the other vaccines also do not come without any potential side effects.
When asked about the now increasingly available rapid tests, the infectious disease expert stated that they are “fairly reliable”. In addition, there is also not much difference in reliability between a rapid test carried out by a medical professional and a self-test, as long as people stick to the instructions and do it correctly. However, people should nevertheless remain cautious, Dr Schockmel advised.
If someone has symptoms, takes a test, and it comes back positive, for instance, that test result has a very high likelihood of being correct and the person in question should immediately self-isolate, Dr Schockmel explained.
On the other hand, if someone does not have any symptoms, but receives a positive result from a rapid test, then it is advisable to get that result confirmed by a professional PCR test.
Ideally, people should carry out these self-tests two to three times per week, or alternatively ahead of particular events. Regarding pricing, Dr Schockmel stated that it remains to be seen if prices fall once larger quantities of the tests will be produced.
