Claims that the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that a new COVID-19 variant is more contagious among vaccinated people than those who are unvaccinated are false.
The center, in a risk assessment summary published on August 23, stated that the SARS-CoV-2 variant labeled BA.2.86, may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines.
It did not say that vaccinated people are at a higher risk than the unvaccinated.
Posts on X (formerly Twitter) had claimed that the new COVID variant is more contagious among vaccinated people than those unvaccinated, quoting the CDC report.
However, the Star fact check has established that this is a distortion of the CDC’s Risk Assessment report as the agency said those who’ve been vaccinated or previously infected may be more susceptible than they were to prior variants.
In its statement, the agency said that it is still closely monitoring the variant but that it is too soon to know its severity and encouraged people to stay up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines.
“It is too soon to know whether this variant might cause more severe illness compared with previous variants. CDC is closely monitoring hospitalization rates to identify any potential early signals that the BA.2.86 variant is causing more severe illness. At this time, locations where this variant has been detected have not experienced increases in transmission indicators,” read the statement.
To keep the new variant and other infections at bay CDC has advised the public to: Get vaccinated against COVID-19, stay at home if they feel sick, wear a high-quality mask ( if they choose to wear a mask), improve ventilation, and also wash their hands regularly.
According to the CDC as of August 23, the SARS-CoV-2 variant had been reported in the U.S., UK, Denmark, South Africa and Israel.
This fact check was published by The Star with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.
