[ad_1]
At least 71 people have died with COVID-19 in Massachusetts even though they were fully vaccinated, according to a newspaper article, as the most contagious Delta variant continues to spread.
So-called breakthrough cases – cases where fully vaccinated individuals test positive for the coronavirus – have so far been rare, but are possible.
As of June 19, a total of 3,907 groundbreaking cases had been reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, reports the Boston Herald. Of these, 71 people died and 268 people were hospitalized.
Massachusetts health officials said on Tuesday that a total of 4,278,111 Bay State residents had been fully vaccinated.
Nationally, more than 4,100 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized or died from coronavirus as of June 25, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To date, 159.7 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
The vaccines are very effective but not block all infections, and the effectiveness rates decrease slightly for variants like alpha and delta. It is not clear, however, whether the reported breakthrough cases were caused by variants.
The CDC stopped counting breakthrough infections in May. Instead, federal health officials only follow vaccinated patients who end up in hospital or those who die from COVID-19.
Latest CDC Data Shows Delta Variant Now Dominant Coronavirus Strain In United States
Although the measurements remain close to their recorded low points in Massachusetts, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are increasing in Massachusetts as the Delta variant continues to spread.
Most contagious Delta variant takes over as dominant coronavirus strain in Massachusetts, Boston-based infectious disease experts said, and is now the dominant coronavirus strain in the United States
Officials in Provincetown, Massachusetts are sounding the alarm after a handful of new cases of COVID-19 “overwhelmingly” affecting fully vaccinated individuals have been reported in the Cape Cod tourist community in recent days .
First identified in India and now in over 100 countries, studies have shown that the Delta variant spreads around 225% faster than the original strain of the virus. The strain has “steadily increased” in Massachusetts since its discovery in April.
[ad_2]
Source link