SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infected 16 fully Pfizer vaccinated Guiana gold miners
As other commenters have noted, this case study further supports the widespread observations that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the chance of severe (symptomatic) illness but do not necessarily prevent  infection and transmission.<p>The authors of this study conjecture that the unvaccinated asymptomatic “patient 40” may have been the source of the infections seen in the other fully vaccinated patients - however this was a minor point as limited rational and evidence was provided.<p>That being said, IMO there seems to be a growing public opinion that unvaccinated individuals are to blame for the increasing dominance of variants of concern (delta, gamma, etc).<p>One counterpoint that I’ve come across during my own review of the literature, is the idea that imperfect vaccines can cause selective pressure which enhances the fitness of highly virulent pathogens. For example see this peer reviewed publication from 2015: “Imperfect Vaccination Can Enhance the Transmission of Highly Virulent Pathogens” (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosbiology&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal.pbio.1002198" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosbiology&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;jou...</a>).<p>My understanding is that this is a relatively new and perhaps highly understudied phenomenon. I wanted to share the idea here because it seems conspicuously missing from many of these discussions. Furthermore, I’d love to hear feedback from someone with more expertise - or just trade relevant links with others who are diving into primary sources as a way to form an educated and well rounded opinion.