237 Fully Vaccinated Oregon Residents Died Of COVID-19; 28,075 Breakthrough Cases Recorded

More than 200 fully vaccinated residents in Oregon have died of COVID-19, according to the state’s breakthrough cases report.

As of Thursday, at least 237 fully vaccinated people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic, accounting for 0.8% of the state’s vaccinated population.

Of the state’s total number of breakthrough deaths, 54% occurred in residents aged 80 and older, 26% among those aged 70 to 79, 13% in those aged 60 to 69, 3% in the 50 to 59 age group, 1% in the 40 to 49 age group and 0.8% in people aged 30 to 39.

As of Thursday, Oregon health officials have yet to record breakthrough COVID-19 deaths in people aged 10 to 29, according to the report.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Oregon has also recorded 28,075 breakthrough COVID-19 infections, a large majority of which occurred in people between the ages of 30 to 39.

Between Sept. 26 and Oct. 2, authorities recorded 2,542 breakthrough cases, accounting for 24.4% of all cases reported in the same period. In comparison, 75.6% or 7,870 of the new COVID-19 infections occurred in unvaccinated residents, according to KTVZ.

Breakthrough infections made up one in every four COVID-19 cases reported in Oregon last week. However, officials still urge residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19, noting that the shots still offer protection.

“Cases of COVID-19 are far more common in unvaccinated people. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is currently approximately four times higher than in vaccinated people,” the health authority said in the report.

On Thursday, Oregon health officials reported 59 new COVID-19 deaths among the vaccinated and unvaccinated, the highest single-day reported death toll since the pandemic began. The state's total COVID-19 death toll stands at 3,959.

Oregon also recorded 1,453 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total to 339,556.

As of Wednesday, Oregon’s average number of daily cases was 1,421 while the average number of daily COVID-19 deaths was 18, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Nationally, the U.S. has so far recorded 44,158,348 coronavirus cases and 710,173 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.