2,424 Fully Vaccinated Massachusetts Residents Have Died Of COVID-19 As Cases Decline

The number of COVID-19 breakthrough fatalities in Massachusetts has exceeded 2,400 as new infections in the state continue to drop following the omicron surge at the start of the year.

A total of 2,424 fully vaccinated individuals in Massachusetts have died from the coronavirus since the state began rolling out vaccines in December 2020, according to a pandemic report released by Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health (DPH) Tuesday.

The number, which was up 78 from last week's 2,346 fully vaccinated fatalities, represents 0.05% of the 5,284,177 fully vaccinated people in the state, the health department said.

Overall, the state has reported a total of 22,783 COVID-19-related deaths, according to publicly available government data. It was unclear how many of those were people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Meanwhile, 1,673,611 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Massachusetts, data provided by The New York Times showed.

The state has administered a total of 13,946,700 vaccine doses as of Tuesday, according to DPH's most recent daily vaccination report.

Around 82% of Massachusetts’ population aged 5 and up are fully vaccinated, while 95% of all residents have received at least one vaccine dose.

Among the vaccinated population, 450,688 have been infected with the coronavirus, with 7,393 of them requiring hospitalization.

The DPH's Tuesday pandemic report came as the number of daily new infections in Massachusetts continued to decrease since the state reported 36,268 cases on Jan. 3 at the height of the omicron surge. Only 170 confirmed cases were reported Tuesday.

It also came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened federal mask-wearing guidelines Friday.

The agency's new guidance classified nearly 70% of the American population as living in "low"- or "medium"-risk areas that no longer have any indoor mask recommendations.

"We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing," CDC director Rochelle Walensky said at a news briefing on the day the new guidance was announced.

However, health officials emphasized that people should still wear face coverings if they wish to do so or are personally at high risk of infection.

"Anybody is certainly welcome to wear a mask at any time if they feel safer wearing a mask. So we are absolutely endorsing - if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, feel free to do so. And we should encourage people to have that liberty to be able to do so," Walensky said.

The U.S. has reported a total of 78,900,375 COVID-19 cases and 950,112 virus-related deaths, data provided by the CDC showed.