CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the agency is ‘keeping a close eye’ Covid-19 cases in fully vaccinated people. So far, approximately 5,800 so-called breakthrough infections, out of the nearly 77 million individuals in the United States who have been fully vaccinated have occurred. Experts tell NBC News they expected such cases because no vaccine is 100 percent effective against infection.
“This is a really good scenario, even with almost 6,000 breakthrough infections,” said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health in Ohio. “Most of those have been mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. That’s exactly what we were hoping for.”
Here are the stats:
- The majority of people with breakthrough infections were not hospitalized.
- Twenty nine percent of cases remained asymptomatic.
- 65 percent of the cases were in women.
- Seven percent of people were hospitalized.
- 74 people died.
- Patient demographics that might explain an increased risk for breakthrough infections largely remained unclear.
- It’s also unclear why a fully vaccinated person who is asymptomatic would get tested, unless he/she works in healthcare, teaches, or any other profession that requires individuals to get tested frequently.
CDC also states that getting vaccinated remains critical to ending the pandemic and getting ‘your liberties’ back.
