More than 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts tested positive for the coronavirus last week, a daily average of more than 600 people as breakthrough infections continue to shoot each week amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
According to a Boston Herald report, the rate of breakthrough infections week-over-week beginning five weeks ago surged 64%, then the following week went up 20%, the next week jumped by 25%, the subsequent week increased by 20%, and in the last week climbed by 23%.
It said that Massachusetts’ breakthrough cases are making up about one-third of the state’s overall cases. People who are unvaccinated are at a higher risk for infection and severe case.
According to new data from the state Department of Public Health on Tuesday, overall, 23,858 fully vaccinated people have tested positive for the virus, that’s 0.53% of the more than 4.5 million fully vaxxed people in Massachusetts.
In total, Massachusetts averaged around 1,371 new cases of COVID-19 per day since Friday. This number, however, was less than the peak 1,600 cases per day last week. Hospitalizations also continued to fluctuate in the state, but the increase is steady. The peak of the hospitalizations was recorded on Aug. 3 as it rose to 620. On Tuesday this week, the total of hospitalizations was 601. Of such hospitalization, 164 were in intensive care units, and 92 got intubated.
Further, of the 601 hospitalizations, 160 were fully vaccinated, which translates to 26 percent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations in Massachusetts. A total of 762 fully vaccinated individuals have been hospitalized since COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out.
An analysis by The New York Times estimates that vaccinated individuals in the United States have about one in 5,000 per day chance of getting the virus. The chance would be much smaller or around less than 1 in 10,000 if the vaccinated person lives in a highly vaccinated community and take necessary precautions against the virus.
The age group that is testing positive for COVID-19 by the greatest is the 20-29. The next age group following them is the 30-39.
As for the number of new vaccinations, the progress slightly slowed over the Labor Day weekend. The average is around 7,123 new doses per day since Friday.
