High school meetings have always been filled with the possibility of awkwardness.
When you hold one in a pandemic, the gathering of old friends, lovers, and rivals becomes infinitely more difficult.
The 1971 class from Waynesboro High School in the US state of Virginia was determined to meet despite the threat of COVID-19.
The organizers did everything they could to prevent the spread of infection.
Everyone who participated should be fully vaccinated, with no exceptions.
“When you look at a classmate who you lived in a small town with and have known for 60, 70 years and you tell them they can not come because they do not have a vaccination card, then it’s hard,” Diana Blackburn Mahoney said.
“It did not feel good to have to say no to them.”
She is now relieved that she and her other reunion organizers stuck to their decision.
Despite the fact that every single guest has been vaccinated – and in some cases triple-waxed – the virus still found a way in.
More than 20 of the approximately 170 guests were tested positive for COVID-19 in the days following reunification.
Everyone who got the virus, however, experienced a rather mild case and has since recovered.
The event demonstrates the strength of vaccines against the Delta variant, which remains the predominant strain of coronavirus in the United States and around the world.
But experts are still figuring out if chaos would have been triggered if the newly discovered variant Omicron had found its way into space.
While the brass band was playing, the virus spread
Chase Hughes got his booster shot a few days before the reunion, but he still managed to incur COVID-19.
He played in the brass band that served as the evening’s entertainment and had a good time at night.
“On Monday, we got word from one of our band members that he had gone and been tested and that he was positive,” he said.
“And I said ‘oh no’.”
Sir. Hughes had begun to feel the first hints that he was unwell.
“I felt like I had some symptoms, so the next day I went in and was tested and found out on Wednesday that I was positive,” he said.
His symptoms were relatively mild, with what felt like a cold that lasted for several days before he was normal again.
He did not pass it on to his family.
Ms Blackburn Mahoney’s husband also received COVID-19, despite having received a booster shot. Since then, he has also recovered.
Fortunately, she said, no one who participated in the reunion became seriously ill or died.
“I think the vaccines did their job,” she said.
“If they had not received the vaccine, they could have been very ill and may not still be here today.”
‘Breakthrough cases’ are on the rise
All cases from reunification are considered “breakthrough infections” – the term for cases in people who have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) considers a person to be fully vaccinated fourteen days after their second shot of a two-dose vaccine like Pfizer or Moderna, instead of taking boosters into consideration.
Data published by the CDC show that while breakthrough cases still lead to hospitalizations and deaths in the United States, the risk is still much lower than that faced by those who have not been vaccinated.
In September, the CDC estimated that unvaccinated people were almost six times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 and 14 times more likely to die from it.
“Breakthrough infections are on the rise around the world, where you have multiple vaccinations and you have high transmission, especially of the Delta virus,” said Robert Bollinger, professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University.
“Those who get significantly sick from breakthrough infections, those who are hospitalized and sadly die, they tend to be people who are older, people who are immunocompromised, people who have several other comorbidity diseases.”
Still, Dr. Bollinger that the chances of dying from COVID-19 while vaccinated are extremely small.
“We have to keep this in perspective, compared to the risk of unvaccinated people, it is much, much less,” he said.
Dr. Bollinger said breakthrough cases after booster shots could also be expected, although evidence suggested the majority were mild so far.
“You can still get COVID after a booster or after any vaccine. There is no 100 percent [effective] vaccine that I am aware of, “he said.
“The most important thing is that the risk of that breakthrough is much lower after a booster.”
Delta threat ‘much more important than Omicron’
While scientists are struggling to learn more about the Omicron variant of COVID-19, one of the biggest concerns is whether existing vaccines will be effective against the new strain.
Researchers are still studying the new variant, but its mutations may give it some ability to avoid vaccines.
America’s top infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, told a recent briefing that he hoped vaccines would at least provide some level of protection – especially if people were given booster shots to protect against declining immunity.
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“We know that when you boost someone, you raise your level of protection very high,” he said.
“And we hope – and I think with good reason to feel good – that there will be some degree of protection.”
In the United States, anyone over the age of 18 is eligible for a booster shot six months after their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna and two months after a single dose of Johnson & Johnson.
Dr. Bollinger was also optimistic, arguing that no matter how they worked against Omicron, vaccines were still needed in the fight against Delta.
In the United States, the Delta variant is estimated to represent as many as 99.9 percent of all detected cases.
“We already have a threat from Delta, it’s much more important than Omicron right now,” said Dr. Bollinger.
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