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Arizona’s breakthrough COVID-19 infections reached nearly 18% of new cases in September, but state health officials emphasize that vaccination remains the best way to prevent serious illness and death.
Since the highly contagious delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or novel coronavirus, took hold in the United States and Arizona in early summer, rates of groundbreaking COVID-19 infections have increased.
In September, breakthrough infections accounted for 17.87%, or about one in six new cases of COVID-19, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
In July, the breakthrough rate was 14% of new cases and in August it had risen to 15%, according to state data.
Overall, state health officials say they have recorded 35,697 groundbreaking COVID-19 infections in Arizona. The number of infections pierced specifically for September was not immediately available on Friday, only the percentage.
In Arizona, the majority of positive COVID-19 cases – about 82% – occur in unvaccinated people, state health officials say.
Additionally, hospital officials report that a large majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 disease in Arizona are not vaccinated.
“No vaccine is 100% effective, but all available COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be very effective in reducing serious illness, hospitalizations and even death,” wrote Tom Herrmann, spokesperson for the department of services. Arizona Health Center, in an email.
“We urge you to roll up your sleeves and get vaccinated today at one of hundreds of providers in Arizona. The vaccine is our best line of defense against COVID-19. It protects you, your loved ones and your loved ones. your community. “
Revolutionary deaths in Arizona: 238
Several prominent people, including members of Congress, have released groundbreaking diagnoses in recent weeks, drawing more attention to the fact that one can be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID -19 even when vaccinated.
The Broadway musical “Aladdin” recently announced that it will temporarily suspend performances due to major infections among some members of the company, according to various media.
Last week, Variety reported that Emmy winner Marc Pilcher, a hairstylist and makeup artist for the Netflix series “Bridgerton,” died of the COVID-19 breakthrough at the age of 53.
The definition of a breakthrough COVID-19 infection is a positive case in people who have been diagnosed at least 14 days after being fully vaccinated. About 3.8 million Arizonas are fully vaccinated.
Revolutionary deaths are rare, but they do occur in Arizona.
State health officials said as of October 4, preliminary data showed there had been 238 known deaths from COVID-19 in the state, up from 121 deaths reported as of September 8.
As of Friday, 20,319 known deaths from COVID-19 had been reported in Arizona.
CDC: unvaccinated individuals have a five times higher risk of infection
Groundbreaking case reports don’t mean the vaccine doesn’t work, health officials have repeatedly stressed.
“Vaccination against COVID-19 is the best way to prevent infection as well as hospitalization and death from the disease,” Herrmann wrote.
“The CDC recently published that unvaccinated people have a five times higher risk of infection, more than 10 times higher risk of hospitalization, and more than 10 times higher risk of death than vaccinated people.”
State and federal health officials also recommend that people infected with COVID-19 get vaccinated. Among other things, scientific research has not proven how long a person will be protected from COVID-19 after recovering from an infection.
The CDC cites emerging evidence that people get better protection from being fully vaccinated compared to having had COVID-19.
Some cases of breakthrough could be due to waning immunity.
Federal and state health officials recommend that certain high-risk people who have received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine receive a booster dose six months after their second dose.
“Studies have shown that protection against the COVID-19 vaccine may decrease over time and may be less able to protect against the delta variant,” Herrmann wrote.
“The purpose of the booster is to increase the immune response. At this time, the booster is only approved for people at high risk of contracting COVID-19.”
Breakthrough case data is based on the matching of testing and vaccine records, not self-report.
State health officials are matching positive COVID-19 cases to vaccination records. They do not rely on self-attestation or any kind of honor system to know if a person with a positive case has been vaccinated.
Data has limits. The state’s matching system between positive COVID-19 cases and immunization records may not be able to match records of a person who fell ill in Arizona but was vaccinated in Canada or in a other state.
Additionally, people who have been vaccinated may be more likely to access the health care system to get tested for COVID-19 in general than people who have not been vaccinated, which could skew the percentages.
Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only tracks COVID-19 rupture cases involving hospitalizations and deaths. To date, 86% of known COVID-19 deaths nationwide have been in adults aged 65 and older, according to CDC data.
Contact the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8369. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes.
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