There have been 5,800 known breakthrough covid infections out of 76 mill vaccinated

This news is a little scary. But it’s important to put it in perspective by understanding the percentages and that the COVID vaccines do not claim 100% effectiveness. Of the over 76M people who have been fully vaccinated, 5,800 of those people have developed breakthrough cases of COVID-19. That number amounts to 0.008% of the vaccinated population. However, this is yet another argument that even with all the strides we have made in battling the virus, precautions such as masks and social distancing are still just as important as before. Please note that the CDC, who released this information, said these percentage numbers are in keeping with the patterns of vaccine characteristics.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified around 5,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among people who were fully vaccinated, multiple outlets report.

Of the cases — which the CDC refers to as “breakthrough infections” — 396 developed severe COVID-19 illness that required hospitalization and 74 died from the virus, the CDC told CNN, adding that, “To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in case demographics or vaccine characteristics.”

“Vaccine breakthrough infections were reported among all people of all ages eligible for vaccination. However, a little over 40 percent of the infections were in people 60 or more years of age,” the CDC added, per CNN.

The Wall Street Journal also reported the statistic, noting that the cases represented just a small fraction — 0.008% — of the fully vaccinated people in the country. The CDC defines fully vaccinated people as those who have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and are two weeks past their second dose, when they should reach peak efficacy against COVID-19.

So far, 76,681,252 people — about 23 percent of the total population — have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Thursday morning, and nearly 124 million have received their first dose, according to the CDC’s COVID data tracker.

The CDC reiterated that even after getting the vaccine, people should still practice social distancing and wear masks during the ongoing pandemic.

“Vaccine breakthrough infections make up a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated,” the CDC told CNN. “CDC recommends that all eligible people get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one is available to them. CDC also continues to recommend people who have been fully vaccinated should keep taking precautions in public places, like wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing their hands often.”

[From People]

Even though the numbers are very low, and in keeping with vaccination patterns, it’s still scary. I’m speaking for myself, but I’m so ready to jump to doom & gloom scenarios when it comes to COVID. So I need to focus on the science of it and the expected margins of error. But I feel terrible for those poor people who thought they were out of the woods, even if there were only a handful of them. This also reinforces what the CDC and Dr. Fauci have been saying that we really need to keep up precautions even though we have been fortunate to receive the vaccine. I know that right-wingers like to claim mask mandates and advising people to stay outdoors is tyranny, but it’s because we don’t have a 100% guarantee. It’s common sense to protect yourself, not an infringement of rights.

I got my first dose! I was scheduled for the end of the month at a location about an hour away from me, but the UCLA medical center right down the street had appointments open for Wednesday and I was able to get one after work. I wore a Dolly Parton ‘vaccine sweater’ too. My jabber guy was so excited with my easy access sleeve, he pointed it out to another nurse. My 16yo just became eligible in CA yesterday too. So we are one fully-vaxxed, one half-vaxxed, one scheduled-vaxxed and one non-vaxxed – like the worst Starbucks order ever. Still, none of us are ever without a mask, we keep our distance from anyone outside our bubble and stay away from crowds.

Photo credit: Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash, Anna Shvets, Thirdman and Samson Kat on Pexels

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Fidel Castro's brother Raul, 89, will hand power to his president
Next post SpaceX launch: NASA gives Elon Musk the green light for Crew-2 launch to ISS next week