A startling new report has revealed that at least 20% of newly diagnosed Covid-19 cases in some US states are breakthrough infections, occurring in fully vaccinated individuals. The majority of these cases are among seniors. While the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines can generally prevent severe illness, they cannot completely prevent infection and illness. This means that even fully vaccinated individuals can contract SARS-CoV-2 and develop Covid-19, a phenomenon known as a vaccine breakthrough. According to an analysis of infection data from seven US states, these breakthrough infections are occurring more frequently than previously thought, with the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus being a major factor.
The analysis looked at data from California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia, which are the states with the most detailed Covid-19 pandemic data. In six of these states, at least 20% of newly diagnosed cases were breakthrough infections. Only in Virginia were breakthrough infections relatively rare, at 6.4%. However, it is likely that there are even more breakthrough infections than reported, as many infected vaccinated individuals show no or only mild symptoms and therefore do not seek medical attention or get counted in the statistics.
In Germany, there have been 10,827 reported vaccine breakthrough cases as of August 12, 2021, with the majority occurring in older individuals. In the US, seniors over 65 make up almost three-quarters of breakthrough cases, with the average age of death after a breakthrough infection being 83 years old in Oregon. While the vaccines are still highly effective in preventing severe illness and death, these breakthrough infections highlight the need for continued vigilance and caution in the ongoing fight against Covid-19.
