SM County: Breakthrough COVID Cases Have Surfaced; What We Know!

18 Jun SM County: Breakthrough COVID Cases Have Surfaced; What We Know!

SM County puts out the word that vaccinated people experience mild symptoms proving efficacy of COVID vaccines, even against Alpha and Delta variants.

For corona vaccine info, visit here.

For up-to-date coronavirus information, visit here.

For free coronavirus testing opportunities, visit here.

For more information regarding the updated public health order, visit the county’s COVID page: bit.ly/smccovidpage.

For all Covid blogs from San Miguel County, go here.

When it comes to COVID, a vaccine breakthrough infection is defined at the detection of the COVID virus in a test sample collected from a person 14 days or more after they have been fully vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some vaccine breakthrough cases are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective in reducing the severity of symptoms and are a critical tool in getting the pandemic under control.

“No vaccine is ever 100 percent effective. Especially in the case of this pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines are a critical tool in reducing transmission, severe disease, and death from the coronavirus,” said San Miguel County Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Grundy. “Our highest risk populations have been and remain those 65 years of age and older and immunocompromised persons. These are the categories of people we’re seeing more often with breakthrough cases, typically with very mild symptoms. Now imagine if these folks hadn’t chosen to get the vaccine. If you fall in this category, it is critical that you continue to guard your behaviors and protect yourselves and others.”

According to the CDC, since Emergency Use Authorizations were approved for Pfizer and Moderna in December 2020, real-world data shows that vaccination reduced the risk for hospitalization due to COVID-19 specifically among adults 65 years of age and older. The Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines are more than 90% effective at preventing the worst outcomes, including hospitalization and death.
In clinical trials, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had a high efficacy rate in preventing hospitalization and death. No recipients who got COVID-19 at least 4 weeks after receiving the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine had to be hospitalized.

“While we are still learning how effective the vaccines are against new variants, we have seen first-hand how vaccines make the likelihood of recovery much better, especially for our older populations,” said Public Health Director Grace Franklin. “Vaccine breakthrough cases occur only a small percentage of all vaccinated people meaning that the COVID-19 vaccines are markedly effective.”

As of June 7, more than 139 million people were fully vaccinated in the United States. Of these millions, 3,459 breakthrough cases have been reported resulting in hospitalization or death. People aged 65 years and older accounted for 76% of hospitalized breakthrough cases according to the CDC.

“When we are seeing breakthrough cases, our vaccinated residents are recovering while hospitalizations and severe outcomes rise amongst those who are unvaccinated,” said Franklin. “We encourage everyone 12 years of age and older to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they can, especially given the clear presence of the highly contagious and aggressive Delta variant.”

Effective immediately, Public Health will report breakthrough cases in the weekly COVID caseload updates which are distributed on Thursdays.

Public Health has confirmed six new positive cases of COVID-19 from test results received from June 13 through 16 including one Johnson & Johnson breakthrough case. Of these cases, six are confirmed as residents and all actively contagious cases are currently in isolation. As of release time today, there are 8 active cases.

• 69-year-old male, resident, asymptomatic, community
• 61-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, social
• 58-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, household
• 48-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, social
• 29-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, workplace
• 26-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, household

To-date, there have been 912 total COVID cases among residents including 7 breakthrough cases and one COVID-related death.

To learn more about the county’s current COVID-19 metrics, please visit the County COVID-19 dashboard.

Power The Comeback:

Crowded places, covered faces
Get vaccinated
Stay home when sick and get tested