Breakthrough cases and hospitalizations are not a cause of vigilance, experts say

As COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased in recent weeks, state officials have noticed an increase in hospitalizations for fully vaccinated individuals.

At this week’s media briefing, Dr. Niraveshire, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Maine, said that 70-75% of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, less than 80% or more in a few weeks. Said few. in front.

This means that one in four COVID-19 patients in the hospital is a so-called groundbreaking case, or a person who is completely vaccinated but infected with the virus.

Shah said hospitalizations associated with breakthrough cases were “predictable and predictable.” He said they remained “rare” and should not be a source of vigilance.

“They are interested in the many people there, but I speak openly with you. They are not the ones who keep me up late,” he said.

Josh Mishaw, Associate Director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Global Health Policy, agrees that breakthrough cases should not be considered a major concern and should not be used as a reason for vaccines to fail. Did.

“The point of the vaccine we have is that it is very effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, including those from the delta mutant,” he said. “Does that mean they are invincible shields? Of course not.”

Overwhelming data suggest that the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 is dramatically lower among vaccinated individuals.

A recent US CDC study found that unvaccinated people were 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19.

Still, the effectiveness of vaccines by Pfizer, Modana, Johnson & Johnson ranges from 75 to 90%, so some groundbreaking cases will occur.

In fact, breakthrough cases are more common in places like Maine, where vaccination rates are high.

“Even a small percentage of a large number can be a large number,” says Michaud.

Mr. Shah added: “Even if there are more breakthrough cases and 30% fewer breakthrough cases, it’s better to live in a community where 90% of people are vaccinated instead of 30%.”

As of August 13, there were 863 breakthrough cases out of approximately 38,000 positive cases since the vaccine became available, according to the latest data tracked by the Maine CDC. This number may be slightly higher, as the state cannot investigate all cases to determine vaccination status, but breakthrough cases account for about 2 percent of all cases.

Another way to see the numbers is: As of Thursday, residents of 838,161 Maine are fully vaccinated. This means that 0.1 percent of those people are infected.

Thirty-five of the 852 hospitalizations since the vaccine became available have been found to be in fully vaccinated people – about 4 percent. And of the 237 deaths reported since vaccination began, 14 were fully vaccinated. That’s just under 6 percent.

According to Shah, the individual contributed to other serious health conditions in virtually all cases of groundbreaking deaths and hospitalizations to date.

The next update on the breakthrough is scheduled for Friday, according to CDC spokesman Robert Long.

“With the recent surge in cases, the Main CDC has changed the way we track and report breakthrough cases in order to make the most of the resources available,” he said.

In a conference call with a reporter on Thursday, hospital officials reiterated that vaccinated individuals could be hospitalized, but that was not the norm.

“Looking at Northern Lights, more than 90% of hospitalized patients are not vaccinated,” said Dr. James Jarvis, COVID-19 Incident Commander of the Healthcare Network. “And the most ill cases are those who have not been vaccinated.”

Dr. Joan Boomsma, Chief Medical Officer at Maine Health, said nearly 80% of hospitalized patients and all ICU patients were unvaccinated.

“I’m not surprised given the high proportion of people vaccinated with some people with symptoms, but far away, they are the most sick people we see. Not, “she said. “This surge is caused by the pockets of unvaccinated people.”

Maine is one of 24 states tracking breakthroughs. The US CDC was tracking them this spring, but stopped in May. Currently, federal agencies are tracking only groundbreaking cases that lead to hospitalization or death.

As of August 16, the US CDC reported 9,716 patients nationwide who were hospitalized or died of COVID-19 after complete vaccination. This is one in 168 million people who have been fully vaccinated.

Many acknowledge that this data is likely to be incomplete, as it relies on state and hospital systems to report voluntarily.

Kaiser recently analyzed groundbreaking cases in states that are still being tracked, including Maine. The percentage of breakthrough cases was found to range from 5.9% in Arizona to 0.2% in Connecticut.

The rate is also very low in the states that are tracking the deaths of fully vaccinated people. In Washington, 48 (2.1 percent) of the 2,249 people who died after the vaccine became available are fully vaccinated. In Michigan, 217 (2.6 percent) of the 8,078 deaths were among fully vaccinated individuals. And in Arizona, 92 out of 9,232 (0.9 percent) deaths are groundbreaking.

Maine’s mortality rate is probably higher, as the actual numbers here are small.

Politico reported this week that the US CDC is being hampered by old, unreliable data on breakthrough infections. One of the biggest reasons they are tracked is to allow experts to determine if vaccine immunity may be weakened.

“I think we’re hampered by the fact that we don’t have strong surveillance,” Kaiser’s Mishaw said.

Health officials have already begun planning booster shots next month.

In any case, Michaux said the panic over the breakthrough incident could and was used to further raise sentiment towards the vaccine.

“People are using this evidence to promote pre-established beliefs about vaccines,” he said. “People say,” Why do you vaccinate when it can lead to breakthrough cases? “It can be a serious illness, not just from an infection. We completely ignore all the data we have regarding protection from vaccines from. “

Breakthroughs are not a major concern, but health officials say that people wear masks indoors and around people, including children who may be immunocompromised or unvaccinated. It states that there are still steps that can be taken to avoid this.

“Overall, if you’re worried about landing in a hospital with the risk of COVID-19, the only best thing you can do today is to get vaccinated,” Shah said.

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