Alberto Fernandez positive for COVID

[antipodean]

Alberto Fernández dio positivo de coronavirus y confirmó que se encuentra aislado en la Quinta de Olivos

Así lo informó a través de sus redes sociales, al terminar el día de su cumpleaños. Presenta un cuadro de fiebre, con 37.7 grados, y leve dolor de cabeza. El jefe de Estado había recibido las dos dosis de la vacuna Sputnik V

www.infobae.com

According to multiple reports circulating at the moment, President Alberto Fernandez tested COVID positive and is in isolation. He has received both doses of the Sputnik V vaccine earlier in the year also.

Naturally this kind of event, if true, could cast a very serious shadow over Argentina’s vaccine campaign at an extremely critical moment when we are seeing record levels of transmission and have limited vaccine options available.

 

[camberiu]

No vaccine is 100% effective. Also, it could be the Brazilian variant and if that is the case, maybe the Sputnik V is not effective against it.

 

[Jerbo]

Alberto should have taken the Pfizer deal.

 

[Johnny]

Fernandez said he had a temp of 37.3. I thought the threshold for a fever in centigrade was 37.5?

 

[antipodean]

No vaccine is 100% effective. Also, it could be the Brazilian variant and if that is the case, maybe the Sputnik V is not effective against it.

A high profile headline like this does not inspire confidence at a time where more confidence is needed.

In the first instance, the selection of this vaccine was done under a cloud of suspicion due to basic lack of transparency which caused a lot of people to have strong personal reservations about it. Now we must ask how many of those vaccinated with Sputnik V (or any vaccine for that matter) are indeed getting infected and spreading it amongst those who are not vaccinated. If that is a significant number, then it is going to be a very, very slow return to normalcy given the very, very slow pace of vaccination.

Or as you point out, if it is due to the Brazilian variant, then we potentially have two very serious problems. 1. A possible cover up of the extent of community transmission today which the government has recently claimed is "under control" 2. An expensive and time consuming vaccination investment that could essentially be written off before it is even off the ground should it fail to protect against the primary infection risks faced in Argentina.

 

[Dougie]

I've heard of people getting COVID in the US after full vaccination too which are moderna or pfizer. The vaccines don't seem to be 100%.

 

[sts7049]

vaccines aren't 100% and were never advertised as such.

i have no doubt the govt will use this as ammo to justify further restrictions though.

 

[¡Sencillamente yo!]

vaccines aren't 100% and were never advertised as such.

i have no doubt the govt will use this as ammo to justify further restrictions though.

You are very warm, check this out, it is in the consideration process I am sure. I would imagine it is being measured with how much can be gotten away with before the people become uncontrollable.

Pedro Cahn: ‘If things get out of hand, more lockdowns may be necessary’

Dr Pedro Cahn is the Scientific Director of Fundación Huésped, a major NGO devoted to the fight against HIV/AIDS. During the coronavirus pandemic, he has served as part of an expert committee advising the Presidency and the Health Ministry on how to combat the transmission of Covid-19.

www.batimes.com.ar

 

[Pierre Smith]

Apparently Sputnik is a solid vaccine, but if it turns out the Russians faked the studies, would anyone be surprised?

That said, none of the vaccines offer 100% protection against contracting Covid-19 either because of insufficient immune response and/or some variant. But all the big vaccines will eliminate the risk of death and hospitalization in 99.9% of cases.

The big story here is that Fernandez' positive test could dampen public enthusiasm for/trust in vaccination, because so many people don't understand that the vaccine is much more likely than not to make you immune, but at any rate WILL make you immune from death/serious complications. Need better communication about the realities here.

That said, if Fernandez croaks, then obviously the Sputnik vaccine campaign will come under legitimate criticism.

 

[antipodean]

La Unidad Médica Presidencial confirmó que el test PCR de Alberto Fernández dio positivo

El equipo dirigido por Federico Saavedra dio detalles de cómo el primer mandatario cursa la enfermedad

www.infobae.com

PCR was positive in addition to the initial antigen test. Will be interesting to see if they test for the specific strain or not.

Given that Sputnik V claims to have a 91% efficacy rate at preventing infection, the president of Argentina of all people ending up in the 9% seems to be very bad luck indeed. This will also make it harder to “sell” their plan to the public of only to applying one dose instead of two in order to speed up the vaccination program.