Almost 4,000 people in Massachusetts tested positive for COVID-19 after becoming fully vaccinated.
“We’re learning that many of the breakthrough infections are asymptomatic, or they’re very mild and brief in duration,” said Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer. “The viral load is not very high.”
Breakthrough cases are still rare, happening to about 1 in every 1,000 vaccinated persons. Massachusetts recorded 3,791 cases of COVID-19 among the state’s more than 3.7 million fully vaccinated individuals.
“Breakthroughs are expected, and we need to better understand who’s at risk and whether people who have a breakthrough can transmit the virus to others,” Hamer said. “In some cases, they’ll be shedding such low levels of the virus and won’t be transmitting to others.”
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CLOSES LAST FEDERAL VACCINATION SITE AMID CONTINUED VACCINE HESITANCY
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said clinical trials demonstrated that vaccines prevent most people from getting sick, while fully vaccinated individuals who do get sick are more likely to have a less severe illness.
But the CDC also warned that no vaccine is 100% effective, admitting that “a small percentage of fully vaccinated people who still get sick, are hospitalized, or die from COVID-19.”
Recent CDC data showed that the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 90% effective at preventing infection two weeks after receiving the last dose. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is about 72% effective at preventing moderate to serious cases.
“Testing to identify current infection remains critical to control of COVID-19,” a Massachusetts Department of Public Health spokesperson said. “People with current infection can spread the virus to others and isolation of cases and identification of close contacts (individuals who may have been exposed) is a foundation of public health response.”
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Officials also warned about highly contagious variants, such as the Delta variant, saying the best way to help stop the spread is to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
So far, the CDC says over 150 million Americans are fully vaccinated.
