Four people in Oregon have tested positive for COVID-19, although they have been fully vaccinated and enough time has elapsed to get their second doses fully effective, public health officials announced Friday.
The news makes Oregon one of the first states in the country to identify such so-called “breakthrough cases” where people who are considered immune are now sick with the disease. State epidemiologist dr. Dean Sidelinger noted that the breakthrough cases were not ‘unexpected’, as the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are presumably close to 94% or 95% effective.
“I anticipate that more states will report more numbers of breakthrough cases because they have more people fully vaccinated,” Sidelinger said.
He added that “no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing disease.”
Yet Friday’s revelation raises important questions about the effectiveness of the vaccines: Were these four Oregonians merely an expected mathematical outcome, that some people who were fully vaccinated would still be infected by the virus? Or do these cases show a weak point in the vaccines if one of these four Oregonians is infected by variants from the United Kingdom, South Africa or Brazil?
To answer these questions, state health officials are taking samples taken from the four fully vaccinated who tested positive.
Sidelinger said two of the people were from Yamhill County and two from Lane County. He said they have no symptoms or mild symptoms, Sidelinger said the vaccines work to ward off serious illnesses. He added that two of the cases are related, meaning they are infected from the case of infections in one place.
Sidelinger could not disclose other details about the four, including their ages or if they are in the health profession. But the latter will provide a plausible explanation as to why, especially if it is asymptomatic, why one or more of these four would have been tested after receiving two doses of the vaccines.
Medical experts advise people who are still vaccinated to take precautions to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus, as it is estimated that 5% to 6% of people who are fully vaccinated are still susceptible to infection, and that is unknown whether fully vaccinated people are silent distributors. These precautions include wearing masks, regularly washing their hands, and physically distancing themselves from others who have not yet received their vaccinations. Sidelinger said the four new Oregon cases reinforce the importance of the advice.
This is an evolving story. Check back at OregonLive.com later for more details.
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– Aimee Green; [email protected]; @o_aimee