HOUSTON — The surge of the Delta variant and new information coming out about just how contagious it is are causing a lot of concern in the medical field -- especially since the variant is affecting people who are fully vaccinated.
When a fully vaccinated person tests positive for COVID-19, the CDC calls that a breakthrough infection.
That's something doctors warned us about. No vaccine is 100 percent effective, but those created to fight COVID-19 prevent most severe symptoms and, in most cases, death.
The numbers back that up. More than 163 million Americans are fully vaccinated as of July 26, according to the CDC. As of that date, the agency reports 6,587 breakthrough cases that led to a patient being hospitalized or dying. From those instances, 6,239 fully vaccinated people who ended up in the hospital tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,263 fully vaccinated people died after testing positive for COVID-19.
Those are a lot of numbers, so what do they mean?
Divide the breakthrough hospitalizations (6,239) by the total number of people vaccinated (163,000,000) and fewer than .004 percent of fully vaccinated people went to the hospital with COVID-19. Using the same equation for breakthrough deaths (1,263 divided by 163,000,000) reveals .00078 percent.
Comparatively, the CDC says 97 percent of COVID-19 positive patients in hospitals right now are unvaccinated.
So, yes, you can still get COVID-19 even if you’re fully vaccinated, but getting vaccinated means you are much less likely to end up in the hospital.
