Data shows how rare serious Covid infections are



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Overall, the data showed that about 1 in 900 people vaccinated had breakthrough infections, chances that would be comparable to death in a motorcycle accident, according to data from the National Safety Council. The vast majority of them had mild or no symptoms of Covid. About 1 in 17,000 people had to be hospitalized, which is less likely than death from electrocution.

About 1 in 83,000 vaccinated people died from Covid, which was even less likely than dying from hornet, wasp or bee stings.

These findings echo the experiences of healthcare experts, who urge the public to get vaccinated in the face of the highly contagious delta variant.

“In general, it is very, very rare to contract Covid after being vaccinated,” said Dr. Eric Ascher, family physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. “If anyone has this experience, it will be a very mild case, if the person is even showing symptoms.”

The data reflects claims by Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that the latest wave is an “unvaccinated pandemic.”

An analysis of the numbers by NBC News found significantly higher rates of serious illness and death among unvaccinated populations. Examples include:

  • In California, unvaccinated infected people were 142 times more likely to require hospitalization than vaccinated infected people.
  • In New Jersey, unvaccinated people were 1,058 times more likely to need hospitalization.
  • In Washington state, the sickest patients were 62 times more likely to die if they weren’t vaccinated.

The three Covid vaccines available in the United States, from Moderna, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, and Johnson & Johnson, have been shown to be very effective in preventing serious Covid infections so far. Moderna reported Thursday that its vaccine was 93% effective six months after its second dose, while Pfizer’s vaccine was 84% ​​effective after six months, both well above the 45% effectiveness of the vaccine list against flu from last season.

Health experts say that revolutionary infections are to be expected, because no vaccine is 100% effective. But they all point out that the reason for getting the vaccine is to avoid ending up in the hospital.

“The most important results are not the prevention of all infections, but the prevention of serious infections and death,” said Dr. emergencies at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Dr Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at Los Angeles County Medical Center and University of Southern California, said few groundbreaking cases at the university have led to serious illness.

“We sometimes see breakthrough infections. Ninety-five percent of them are benign and do not require hospitalization, ”he said. “They come for emergency care, they can go into the emergency room with a cough and sniffles. But they don’t need oxygen and they go home. A very, very, very small percentage needed oxygen on the inpatient side.

Ascher, who sees around 100 patients per week, said that since vaccines became widely available in the spring, he has only seen one fully vaccinated patient who has tested positive for Covid. The patient had mild symptoms, including fatigue and loss of smell, which lasted for less than two days.

He said he tries to emphasize to patients that vaccines offer real protection, and that he tells them, “If you are fully vaccinated and you fall with Covid, it will be benign. You are not going to be hospitalized and you are not going to die. It is very rare for a fully vaccinated person to have a bad result.

A Covid outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts over the July 4 holiday weekend raised concerns among health officials about breakthrough infections. NBC Boston reported that the outbreak has resulted in more than 900 cases.

Massachusetts is a leader in immunization, with more than 64% of its population fully vaccinated, and a CDC study found that while about 3 in 4 infected people in the group were vaccinated, there was little hospitalizations and no deaths.

The situation is very different for unvaccinated people. Covid cases have increased nationwide since June, but the largest increases have been in states with low vaccination rates.

Dr Michelle Prickett, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at Northwestern Medicine in Ill., Said that although the university has seen groundbreaking cases in immunocompromised patients, “our upcoming new infections have mostly not been vaccinated. “.

In July, the CDC recommended that people vaccinated in areas with high viral transmission wear masks indoors. As of Friday, that included more than 80% of US counties.

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