People who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can still end up contracting the Delta variant and would develop the same symptoms and spread the virus to others, just like the unvaccinated ones, a recent study found.
The latest findings which was conducted by researchers at the Oxford University shed light that double-jabbed people with Delta variant can have a similar peak of viral load which is indistinguishable to the unvaccinated people.
The research shows that vaccinated people with the Delta infection shed the same amount of virus when they cough and sneeze, regardless of their first or second dose.
However, experts said that fully vaccinated people remain at less risk even after catching the Delta variant but could spread them to the unvaccinated without their knowledge and make their condition turn critical.
Professor Sarah Walker, who led the team of researchers said in a statement: ''The hope was the unvaccinated people could be protected by vaccinating lots of people... (but) the higher levels of virus that we're seeing in these infections with vaccinated people means unvaccinated people are going to be at higher risk.''
The research was conducted post receiving three million swab tests of both vaccinated and unvaccinated people and another 700,000 people who were double-jabbed, as part of the Office for National Statistics Covid-19 survey and used the cycle threshold (Ct) scores to quantify the viral load.
Walker added: ''You are still less likely to get infected if you have two doses, but if you do you will have similar levels of virus (as the unvaccinated) But the fact that they can have high levels of virus suggests that people who aren't yet vaccinated may not be as protected from the Delta variant as we hoped,'' she said.
Prof Walker urged everyone to get their shots and stressed on the fact that the vaccine is the only saving grace for people to not land at the hospital after contracting the virus.
The Delta variant which is highly contagious has been raging across the United States and the United Kingdom and health officials have beefed up the vaccination programs in order to control the spread of virus.
