Data on groundbreaking COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) – Residents of Pennsylvania who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus were much more likely to contract COVID-19, be hospitalized and die than those who were vaccinated, health officials said on Tuesday in the first public release of data on so-called “breakthrough” infections in the state.

Health officials recognize that as the number of people vaccinated increases, we will start to see more breakthrough cases.

Alison Beam, Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary, said no vaccine is 100% effective, but the goal is to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death.

Between January and September in Pennsylvania, 6,472 people died from COVID-19. Of these, 213 were fully vaccinated. This means that 97% of people who died from the virus were not vaccinated or were only partially vaccinated. The data also showed that 95% of hospitalizations and 94% of COVID cases are among the unvaccinated.

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“I hope this data encourages anyone who has not been vaccinated to talk to their doctor about the possibility of getting vaccinated as soon as possible,” Beam said.

Tuesday’s press conference took place in Lancaster County where they see an increase in hospitalizations due to low vaccination rates. Less than 50% of the county’s population is fully vaccinated.

For members of the Philadelphia Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium and CEO Dr Ala Stanford, this is the data they needed to bolster their vaccination efforts.

“The data confirms that the vaccine is protective for you, it protects for your family, for those you love and, most importantly, right now, our children who need to be in school,” Stanford said.

On Monday, the state of New Jersey released similar data showing that the vast majority of cases and hospitalizations are among those not fully immunized.

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And in Delaware, of nearly 507,000 fully vaccinated residents, there were only 2,307 cases among those vaccinated, or about five-tenths of 1%.

“Most of these cases and hospitalizations are people who are not vaccinated, so we know that it spreads easily among people who are not vaccinated,” said Dr Karyl Rattay, director of the Department of Health of the Delaware.

Dr Ala Stanford says the reality is that children under 12 who are back in school are not yet eligible for vaccines and therefore are not protected.

“And the best thing we can do to protect them as adults from the age of 12 is to get vaccinated. That’s why some of our schools are already closed and it’s not even been a month,” he said. Stanford said.

Pennsylvania will continue to follow revolutionary cases and update the numbers. It will also determine if and when people may need a COVID booster.