Fully Vaccinated Oregon Woman Dies 1 Day After COVID-19 Diagnosis

An Oregon woman has died of COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated against the disease, county officials have announced.

The 47-year-old woman, whose identity was not disclosed by authorities, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Aug. 9. She died the next day while admitted at the Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass.

Officials for Josephine County Public Health said Saturday that the woman had pre-existing medical conditions prior to her diagnosis. However, they refused to specify what her underlying conditions were, according to KDRV 12.

Across the state of Oregon, 55 people died of COVID-19 in July. At least 10 of those deaths involved people who were fully vaccinated against the virus.

Dr. Melissa Sutton, medical director for respiratory viral pathogens at Oregon Health Authority, said data from July showed that a higher percentage of vaccinated people died that month compared to previous months. However, she said it is too early to say whether it represents a new trend.

“The overall numbers still show that people who are unvaccinated remain at far greater risk from COVID-19 illness, especially from the Delta variant that is now being found in most new cases in Oregon,” Sutton said in a news release, according to Mail Tribune.

In July alone, 19% of Oregon’s 12,514 COVID-19 cases were breakthrough infections. Among the breakthrough cases, 27% were older than 65.

Across the United States, health officials recorded 2,232 new breakthrough cases last week. At least 445 fully vaccinated people were hospitalized with COVID-19, while six died after contracting the virus.

Since the start of the pandemic, 9,969 breakthrough infections and 106 breakthrough deaths have been reported, according to NBC Boston.

As of the week ending on Aug. 7, the highly contagious Delta variant accounted for 97.4% of all new COVID-19 cases sequenced throughout the nation, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts say breakthrough cases are expected, noting that there are several factors why COVID-19 infections among fully vaccinated people happen. For one, none of the vaccines currently available are 100% effective at preventing infection or death.

Experts also note that there is still incomplete data into how long the immunity provided by COVID-19 vaccines lasts after the second dose, according to CNBC.