(AP Photo / Fareed Khan)
PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services said Thursday it is investigating 298 cases of COVID-19 among individuals who received the vaccine.
Holly Poynter, a public information officer at ADHD, tells KTAR News 92.3 FM in an email that no deaths were reported due to the breakthrough infections.
“We are working to identify patterns or trends in the characteristics of patients, the vaccine administered or varietal strains,” Poynter said.
A person is confirmed with a vaccine breakthrough if they are positive for COVID-19 using a PCR test or antigen test and received their final dose of the vaccine more than two weeks before the positive test.
The 298 cases represent 0.0167% of the people who were fully vaccinated in Arizona as of Thursday.
The state health department reported that 1,755,554 people were fully vaccinated. A total of 2,632,267 people received at least one dose, about 36.6% of the state’s population.
“Although no vaccine is 100% effective, we continue to encourage all Arizonans to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” Poynter said. “Vaccinations are a safe and effective tool for public health, which is critical to stopping the spread of disease and preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19.”
CNN reported Thursday that approximately 5,800 infections have been reported from the 77 million people who have been fully vaccinated in the U.S., with 74 deaths and 396 hospitalizations.
“To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in the case of demographics or vaccine traits,” the CDC told CNN in an email.
Arizona has reported 851,725 COVID-19 infections and 17,123 deaths since the pandemic began.