3,919 Breakthrough Cases Recorded Over 1 Week In Massachusetts; 32 Fully Vaccinated Dead

Health officials in Massachusetts reported more than 3,900 breakthrough cases over the past week, the state’s COVID-19 data showed.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 3,919 novel coronavirus cases involving fully vaccinated residents in the past week alone. At least 61 fully vaccinated people were admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 while 32 vaccinated residents died.

The latest figures take the state’s total number of breakthrough cases to 27,777 and breakthrough deaths to 194, according to the health department.

The state’s breakthrough cases represent only 0.61% of the total number of residents who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The deaths represent 0.004% of the fully vaccinated population.

The report did not indicate how many of the breakthrough infections involved people with underlying medical conditions. However, it noted that the figures may be “undercounted due to discrepancies” in records.

On Monday, Massachusetts officials reported 5,085 new coronavirus cases involving fully vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, taking the state’s COVID-19 case tally recorded since the beginning of the pandemic to 782,107.

The state also reported 555 new hospitalizations and 19 additional coronavirus-related deaths. At least 18,369 people have now died of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, according to The New York Times.

Despite the rise in breakthrough infections, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to emphasize that only a small percentage of vaccinated people contract COVID-19. The agency also cited three studies that found vaccines to still be effective in preventing infections and deaths.

In one of the studies, researchers studied 600,000 COVID-19 cases recorded across 13 U.S. jurisdictions between April 4 and July 17. During the time period, only 46,312 or 8% of fully vaccinated people were diagnosed with COVID-19.

The study also found hospitalizations and deaths to be rare, with only 2,967 fully vaccinated people admitted to hospitals and 616 fatalities. In comparison, 34,972 unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people were hospitalized with COVID-19 and 6,132 unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people died of novel coronavirus.

“The bottom line is this,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a Friday press conference, according to Yahoo News. “Vaccination works and will protect us from the severe complications of COVID-19.”

As of Tuesday, the U.S. recorded 14,358,752 COVID-19 cases and 663,913 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.