46% Of Oregon's COVID-19 Cases In March Were Fully Vaccinated Residents

Nearly half of all COVID-19 cases reported in Oregon between March and April were fully vaccinated, the state's health authorities said.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported around 5,529 breakthrough cases from March 5 to April 2, data in the agency’s latest weekly vaccine breakthrough case report showed.

The cases accounted for 45.2% of the 12,231 COVID-19 infections reported in the time frame, noted the report released Thursday.

Of the reported cases, 12,209, or around 99.82%, had a known vaccination status.

Oregon has reported 705,120 COVID-19 cases and 7,214 virus-related fatalities, according to the OHA's most recent weekly coronavirus data report released Wednesday.

The state has identified 198,382 breakthrough cases so far, with the median age of cases being 41 years old.

Breakthrough cases are "instances in which an individual tests positive for COVID-19 at least 14 days following the completion of any primary COVID-19 vaccine series," the OHA explained.

Among the reported breakthrough cases, 198,356 received vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

Those who completed their primary series with Pfizer's vaccine comprised most of the cases at 117,495, followed by Moderna with 61,535 cases and Johnson&Johnson at 19,326.

Despite the number of breakthrough cases, the OHA insisted that "vaccination, including boosting, remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19."

"The incidence of COVID-19 is much higher in unvaccinated individuals than in vaccinated individuals," said the agency, which also noted that the rate of coronavirus cases among unvaccinated individuals in the most recent week was approximately 2.9 times the rate among those who were fully vaccinated and 2.7 times than those who got boosted.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintained that the COVID-19 vaccines are "safe and effective."

"COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. The vaccines met the Food and Drug Administration’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization," the agency said.

Overall, the U.S. has reported 80,191,020 coronavirus cases and 982,663 deaths, according to publicly available data provided by the CDC.