So here’s the deal — about 99.999% of fully vaccinated Americans have not had a breakthrough COVID-19 case that led to hospitalization or death, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Again, that’s 99.999% — we are not rounding up here.
CDC numbers on COVID-19 breakthrough cases
The CDC data show that there were 6,587 COVID-19 breakthrough cases among 163 million fully vaccinated Americans, according to CNN.
- Of those, 6,239 cases led to hospitalization.
- And 1,263 led to death.
Simple division shows that less than 0.004% of fully vaccinated people were hospitalized from their COVID-19 breakthrough infection. And 0.001% of fully vaccinated people died from the breakthrough case, according to CNN.
- The breakthrough cases are happening among adults 65 or older, according to CNN. The data show 74% of the breakthrough cases are happening among that age group.
Concerns about breakthrough cases
Hysteria and concern over COVID-19 breakthrough cases sparked over the weekend after a study from the CDC found that 74% of people infected in a COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts were fully vaccinated, according to CNBC.
The data found that fully vaccinated people can carry as much of the virus as unvaccinated people and spread it quickly — if they are infected. Of course, as we see above, breakthrough cases remain rare.
- “This finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement, according to CNBC. “The masking recommendation was updated to ensure the vaccinated public would not unknowingly transmit virus to others, including their unvaccinated or immunocompromised loved ones.”