but I will bet you ANYTHING that those who DO get infected are at least less infectious.
I am less sure, based on the results of the Oxford vaccine trial: “Viral gRNA was detected in nose swabs from all animals and no difference was found on any day between vaccinated and control animals.” Viral load is indeed lower in the lower respiratory tract, but my understanding is that infections spread mainly from the upper respiratory tract. And if you factor in how most infections are detected, namely by an individual experiencing symptoms, it is conceivable that vaccinated and thus asymptomatic Sars-Cov 2 carriers will be in effect more infectious.
This being said, the challenge the monkeys were given was a massive dose of virus that is probably a good deal more than a human is ever likely to see. Also, you can have replication without having as much competent virus, especially if free virions are being neutralized via antibodies.
I am less sure, based on the results of the Oxford vaccine trial: “Viral gRNA was detected in nose swabs from all animals and no difference was found on any day between vaccinated and control animals.” Viral load is indeed lower in the lower respiratory tract, but my understanding is that infections spread mainly from the upper respiratory tract. And if you factor in how most infections are detected, namely by an individual experiencing symptoms, it is conceivable that vaccinated and thus asymptomatic Sars-Cov 2 carriers will be in effect more infectious.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2608-y
This being said, the challenge the monkeys were given was a massive dose of virus that is probably a good deal more than a human is ever likely to see. Also, you can have replication without having as much competent virus, especially if free virions are being neutralized via antibodies.