Vaccine breakthrough cases are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective and are a critical tool to bring the pandemic under control. However, no vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness. There will be a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated who still get sick, are hospitalized, or die from COVID-19. A recent CDC report highlights what we know to date about breakthrough infections.
- As of April 13, 2021, more than 75 million people in the United States had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since December 14, 2020.
- During the same time, CDC received 5,814 reports of vaccine breakthrough infections from 43 U.S. states and territories.
- Vaccine breakthrough infections were reported among people of all ages eligible for vaccination.
- 1,695 (29%) of the vaccine breakthrough infections were reported as asymptomatic.
- 5% people with breakthrough infections were known to be hospitalized and 1% died presumably as a result of their breakthrough infection.
It is important to note that reported vaccine breakthrough cases will represent an undercount, that these surveillance data are a snapshot to help identify patterns to look for signals among breakthrough cases.
Take Home Points
- Vaccine breakthrough cases occur in only a small percentage of vaccinated persons.
- COVID-19 vaccines are effective.
- CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people continue take steps to protect themselves and others in many situations, like wearing a mask, maintaining an appropriate social distance from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing their hands often
So very rarely vaccinated persons can still get COVID-19. In camp we assume that most, but not all, staff will be vaccinated. This month in LLB Signature sessions, we will discuss four Vaccination Status Scenarios to consider in this setting:
- Testing Staff by Vaccination Status
- Bubble Poppers by Vaccination Status & Off-Camp Exposures
- Days Off by Vaccination Status
- Cohorts During by Vaccination Status During Staff Training