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ALBANY – Albany County is once again urging people to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status, after finding that nearly half of all coronavirus infections in the county last week had occurred in people who had received the coronavirus vaccine.
Of the 260 new cases identified among residents between Aug. 2 and Aug. 6, 107, or 41%, occurred in people who had received their injections, according to data shared by County Director Dan McCoy on Tuesday.
While the majority of cases, 142, or 54%, have occurred among those who are not vaccinated, McCoy said statistics confirm what health experts have said about the highly contagious delta variant circulating. currently in the United States – it seems to spread easily between the two. vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
“The delta variant can be contracted and spread by the vaccinee, which is why we need people to wear masks in indoor public spaces,” McCoy said. “We also know that the vaccine dramatically reduces your chances of getting seriously ill and being hospitalized, so I continue to urge people to get the vaccine if they haven’t already.”
While health experts have never ruled out the ability of those vaccinated to carry and spread the coronavirus, previous versions of the virus were much less contagious than the delta variant that currently causes outbreaks in the United States. original coronavirus strain. It also appears to produce a lot more virus in the body – a measure known as the “viral load”. Higher viral loads are easier to pass on to others and tend to make the patient sicker.
Still, experts say the coronavirus vaccines currently licensed in the United States continue to offer high protection against serious illness, hospitalization, or death in someone infected with the delta variant. So while so-called “breakthrough” infections are on the rise among those who have been vaccinated, their cases appear to be much milder than in those who are not vaccinated, they say.
McCoy said the vast majority of infections in people vaccinated last week were in young adults, including 31 in people in their 20s and 19 in people in their 30s. Six more occurred in vaccinated people 19 years of age and younger.
Immunization status was not known for 11 of 260 cases last week, he said.
Meanwhile, three other residents of the capital region have died from complications from COVID-19, according to county data.
Rensselaer County officials confirmed on Monday that a 61-year-old woman from Troy had died after being infected – marking the county’s first death from the virus since late July and the 163rd overall. The woman was not vaccinated and had many underlying health issues, officials said.
Greene County also announced Monday that a resident had died over the weekend due to complications from COVID-19, but did not provide any details about the victim, including his vaccination status. It was the county’s first death from the disease in more than two months and the 76th overall.
In Saratoga County, the death toll among residents of the coronavirus rose from 169 on Friday to 170 on Monday, according to data released every weekday by the local health department. Another death had been added to the balance sheet three days earlier.
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