We know the vaccines are not sterilizing so you can still catch and spread it. They do reduce the likelihood of hospitalization and that seems to be about that.
Saying "well you're just less likely to go to the hospital" underplays their importance and gives unnecessary credence to the completely false notion that if you don't get vaccinated the only person you're potentially hurting is yourself.
The chances of having a breakthrough infection and passing it to someone else are quite a lot smaller than the chances of getting infected while being unvaccinated and passing it to someone else, just because breakthrough infections aren't that high (Even if they are higher than we'd like).
42% (and even 58%) is still a huge improvement since the article says that the likelihood that an unvaccinated person will spread is around 67%.
The R0 value for Delta is between 6 and 7. So while an unvaccinated person might pass it on to ~6.7 people you will pass it on to only 4.2 people in the beginning (37% reduction), then to 5.8 people (13% reduction).
This calculation also assumes that your chance of getting Covid is the same as an unvaccinated person, which is not correct.
That’s a huge difference, and not just reducing the likelihood of hospitalisation.
Unfortunately US media and government messaging at the beginning of this year touted the vaccines effectiveness as we historically understood vaccines to be, which was relatively sterilizing and a preventative. When Delta started infecting the fully vaccinated, it underscored the skepticism around these vaccines.
Ironically, right now, I know more people in my social circle that have had breakthrough cases then people who had Covid prior to vaccine’s release.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.28.21264262v...
I think the only conclusion that can be supported truly at this point is that you seem to be less likely to get a severe disease progression.
And before anyone jumps on the whole political thing. Yes I have taken two doses of the biogen vaccine.