Some became seriously ill and 74 people died, the CDC said. It was said that 396 – 7% – of those who became infected after being vaccinated needed hospitalization.
This is the first indication from CDC of how effective the vaccine is in real life – and the first indication that the vaccines are not completely protected against serious illness and death.
“So far, about 5,800 breakthrough cases have been reported to CDC. To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in terms of demographics or vaccine characteristics,” the CDC emailed CNN.
To date, about 77 million people in the U.S. have been completely vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a CNN analysis of CDC data. The CDC’s reports on breakthrough cases will delay the daily reports of vaccines, and therefore may not reflect the most recent events.
It is not unexpected to see breakthrough cases. The vaccines are not 100% effective in preventing infections, and as tens of millions of people are vaccinated, more and more such cases will be reported.
Pfizer / BioNTech’s vaccine was 95% effective in preventing symptomatic diseases in clinical trials, and earlier this month companies said actual data in the US showed that the vaccine was more than 91% effective against diseases with any symptoms for six months.
The Moderna vaccine was 94% effective in preventing symptomatic trials, and 90% effective in real life. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was 66% worldwide in trials and 72% effective in preventing disease in the USA.
CDC will look for clues as to who is most likely to become infected, despite the vaccination.
“Breakthrough infections have been reported among all people of all ages who are eligible. A little over 40% of the infections were in people 60 years or older,” the CDC said.
Most, 65%, were female and 29% of the so-called breakthrough infections were asymptomatic. “CDC monitors reported cases for grouping by patient demographics, geographic location, time since vaccination, vaccine or lot number type, and SARS-CoV-2 lineage,” the CDC said.
In addition, samples from cases will be tested to see how much is caused by variants, and if so, which ones.
“CDC has developed a national breakthrough database for COVID-19 vaccine where public health investigators can currently import, store and manage data for cases in their jurisdiction,” the CDC said.
“The breakthrough infections of vaccines 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. CDC also recommends that people who are fully vaccinated should continue to take precautions in public places, such as wearing a mask, staying at least six meters apart, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated areas, and washing their hands regularly. ‘