CDC: 5,800 COVID-19 infections reported in fully vaccinated people

CNN – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 5,800 people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have become infected anyway.

Out of those people, 74 died and 396 [7%] required hospitalization. Many were seriously ill, the CDC reported.

It’s the first indication from CDC of how effective the vaccine is in real life — and the first indication the vaccines do not protect completely against severe disease and death.

“So far, about 5,800 breakthrough cases have been reported to CDC. To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in case demographics or vaccine characteristics,” the CDC told CNN via email.

About 77 million people in the US have been vaccinated so far, according to CDC data. CDC reports on breakthrough cases will lag day-to-day reports of vaccines given, so may not reflect the most current events.

The breakthrough cases are not unexpected, as no vaccine is 100% effective. As more people get vaccinated, more breakthrough cases will be reported.

Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine was 95% effective in preventing symptomatic disease in clinical trials, and earlier this month the companies said real-life data in the US shows the vaccine is more than 91% effective against disease with any symptoms for six months, CNN reported.

Moderna’s vaccine was 94% effective in preventing symptomatic illness in trials, and 90% effective in real life use. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was 66% overall globally in trials, and 72% effective at preventing disease in the US.

The CDC is looking at trends to see who is most likely to become infected despite being vaccinated.

“Vaccine breakthrough infections were reported among all people of all ages eligible for vaccination. However, a little over 40% of the infections were in people 60 or more years of age,” the CDC said.

Most, 65%, were female and 29% of the so-called breakthrough infections were asymptomatic. “CDC is monitoring reported cases for clustering by patient demographics, geographic location, time since vaccination, vaccine type or lot number, and SARS-CoV-2 lineage,” the CDC said.

Samples from cases will also be tested to see which variant of COVID-19 vaccinated people are catching.

“CDC has developed a national COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough database where state health department investigators can currently enter, store, and manage data for cases in their jurisdiction,” the CDC said.

“Vaccine breakthrough infections make up a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated. CDC recommends that all eligible people get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one is available to them. CDC also continues to recommend people who have been fully vaccinated should keep taking precautions in public places, like wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing their hands often.”

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