COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations on the rise among those vaccinated in Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa .– The proportion of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations among vaccinated Pennsylvania residents rose sharply last month, although the shot remained largely protective, according to new health data across the country. state obtained by the Associated Press.

The latest data from the Ministry of Health on so-called “breakthrough” infections show that between September 5 and October 4, those vaccinated accounted for just over a quarter – 26% – of more than 135,000 new infections and nearly 5,000 hospitalizations across the state. . Death statistics for the last 30 days were not available due to delays in reporting and verification.

When the health ministry released its first breakthrough case data set on September 14, just 6% of cases and 5% of hospitalizations since January were in residents who had been vaccinated.

State health officials have attributed the increased impact of COVID-19 on those vaccinated to the increase in the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, as well as to the decrease in immunity in some populations who received the vaccine, among other factors.

“Vaccines were designed to prevent serious illness and hospitalization, but no vaccine is 100%,” Acting State Surgeon General Dr Denise Johnson said in a telephone interview. . “As we have more people vaccinated, there will be more cases in those people vaccinated. That doesn’t mean the vaccines don’t work. They work as expected.”

She said the data strengthens the case for booster shots. Last month, U.S. health officials approved a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for all Americans 65 and older, as well as young people whose health or work conditions put them at higher risk.

“We know vaccines offer great protection,” Johnson said. “Even now, with the delta variant, with the waning immunity, the cases that we have, the hospitalizations that we have, the people who are really sick, are still largely unvaccinated.”

Over the past month and since the start of 2021, state data indicates that 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 have been vaccinated.