37 Fully Vaccinated Massachusetts Residents Died Of COVID-19 Last Week

Nearly 40 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts died of COVID-19 in the past week, according to the state’s health department.

As per data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, at least 37 residents died of the novel coronavirus between Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 despite being fully vaccinated. The deaths represent 0.006% of the state’s fully vaccinated population.

Over the past week, the state’s health department officials also reported 4,378 breakthrough COVID-19 cases -- infections in people who have been vaccinated -- and 154 additional hospitalizations among the fully vaccinated.

The latest data brings the state’s total number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases to 36,723, which represents 0.8% of all fully vaccinated people. The 37 new deaths take the state’s death toll among the vaccinated to 254.

The state’s data did not indicate how many of the breakthrough cases occurred in people who had pre-existing medical conditions.

On Tuesday, Massachusetts health officials reported 1,380 new COVID-19 cases, including both the unvaccinated and vaccinated. This brings the state’s total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 754,915.

Massachusetts has so far reported 18,190 COVID-19 deaths, according to the data.

Hospitals across the state have begun to see a drop in hospitalizations since the surge of cases in the summer. On Tuesday, the number of admitted COVID-19 patients across Massachusetts stood at 606. In comparison, there were 707 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Sept. 13, according to WCVB.

As of Monday, the state’s daily average of COVID-19 cases stood at 1,663 and the daily average of deaths was 14, according to an analysis by The New York Times. The data came as dozens of state troopers in Massachusetts resigned in protest of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

"Throughout COVID, we have been on the front lines protecting the citizens of Massachusetts and beyond," Michael Cherven, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, said in a statement. "Simply put, all we are asking for are the same basic accommodations that countless other departments have provided to their first responders, and to treat a COVID-related illness as a line of duty injury," he added.