So far, 168 Oregonians have tested positive for the coronavirus, despite being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 19 were hospitalized and three died – figures so small that officials said they had ‘good news’ wash.
The number of cases means that of the 700,000 people who reached full immunity, only 0.024% became infected anyway.
“It shows that the vaccines work very well,” said Dr. Melissa Sutton, medical director of the Oregon Health Authority for respiratory viral diseases, said. “All these figures are good news.”
Although coronavirus vaccines are effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths among those who are infected, no vaccine is foolish. Sutton was also not surprised by the death and the hospitalization.
“They’re obviously sorry,” Sutton said. But the numbers were “no more than we would expect.”
State officials have calculated the number of so-called “breakthrough” cases among Oregonians who have reached full immunity, which comes two weeks after a final dose of vaccine. Officials are monitoring the case as it could indicate dangerous mutations of the virus.
It is unclear how many, if any, of the breakthrough cases Oregon announced were caused by virus variants, Sutton said, although it is not known if there is one.
Government officials said many of the people with identified breakthrough cases have no symptoms and that they have been tested for other reasons, such as workers in the care facility who need to be screened at least once a month.
None of the three deaths were linked to a variant, the state said. The state’s information is valid until April 2.
Oregon has now identified 294 cases driven by variants the federal government is concerned about. But the health authority has detailed case data for only 23.
This is because the state identified the other 271 different cases before federal health officials said the specific versions of the virus should be closely monitored. As a result, when Oregon discovered the variant, it did not check whether the people infected with it were vaccinated.
Oregon’s revelation Thursday makes it at least the seventh number of the state’s breakthroughs. Officials initially denied a record request from The Oregonian / OregonLive for the information.
Lawmakers said the state should disclose how many such cases health investigators have identified. They also criticized the state for hiding behind a law that allows officials to hide information about health examinations they want, with a bill pending in the legislature to improve transparency.
Sutton said the agency will continue to update breakthrough figures once a month.
– Fedor Zarkhin