Cases of COVID-19 are extremely rare among people who have been fully vaccinated, according to a new data analysis by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Among more than 75 million people who have been fully vaccinated in the US, only about 5,800 people reported a “breakthrough” infection, in which they became infected with the pandemic coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated.
The numbers indicate that breakthroughs occur in less than 0.008 percent of people who are fully vaccinated – and that more than 99,992 percent of those who are vaccinated have not contracted any SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The figures come from a nationwide database set up by the CDC to track and monitor breakthrough infections for signs that the breakthroughs may be compiled according to the patient’s demographics, geographical location, time since vaccination, vaccine type or number of the vaccine. The agency will also closely monitor all breakthrough infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 variants, some of which have been shown to reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.
So far, the vaccines appear to be extremely effective and work as expected, according to the CDC’s analysis – which the agency provided to Ars by email.
The vast majority of people in the U.S. were vaccinated with one of the mRNA vaccines, made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, both of which were approximately 95 percent effective in Phase III clinical trials. Less than five percent of people in the U.S. received the Johnson & Johnson adenovirus vaccine, which had a slightly lower effectiveness of 72 percent in the U.S.
The extraordinary calculation that 99,992 percent of the vaccines did not contract the virus may reflect that everyone has simply not been exposed to the virus since the vaccination. There are probably also cases that are missed in the reporting. Yet the data is an encouraging sign.
“COVID-19 vaccines are effective and are a critical tool in bringing the pandemic under control,” the agency said in an email. “To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in the case of demographics or vaccine traits.”
Continue with mask for the time being
Many of the breakthroughs have occurred in older people, who are known to be more vulnerable to COVID-19. More than 40 percent were in people 60 years and older. However, the agency noted that breakthrough infections had spread throughout each age group currently eligible.
“We see [breakthroughs] with all vaccines, ”Anthony Fauci, the expert in infectious diseases, said in a press release earlier this week. “No vaccine is effective or effective, which means you will always see breakthrough infections, regardless of the effectiveness of your vaccine.”
Vaccines can fail in some people due to various factors, including immune status, health status, age and medication. There is also the possibility that something went wrong with the vaccines themselves, such as incorrect storage, delivery or composition, Fauci explained.
‘Fauci added, however,’ even if a vaccine does not protect against infection, it often protects against serious diseases. ‘He emphasizes the case of the flu vaccine 2019-2020, which was only 39 percent effective. Despite this, and the fact that only 52 percent of the people received their vaccination, the vaccine would have prevented an estimated 105,000 flu hospitalizations and 6,300 flu cases.
In the CDC’s data on breakthrough COVID-19 infections, the agency found that 29 percent of the infections were asymptomatic. Only seven percent of the 5800 breakthrough cases resulted in hospitalization and there were only 74 deaths. This indicates that the mortality rate among breakthrough cases is about one percent and among all people who are fully vaccinated, about 0.0001 percent.
Although the risk is small, there is still a risk. The CDC stressed that everyone should be vaccinated when it is their turn and that, once vaccinated, they should continue to take health precautions, such as wearing a mask, staying at least 6 meters apart, crowds and to avoid poorly ventilated spaces and wash their hands regularly. ”