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Less than one percent of fully vaccinated Americans have had a breakthrough COVID-19 infection, a newly released analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed. Breakthrough infections are when fully vaccinated people test positive for COVID-19 despite having the vaccine.
The analysis used data reported by states and noted that the federal government only reports breakthrough infections in which the person was hospitalized or died as a result of the coronavirus, CNN reported.
The CDC reported that less than 0.004% of fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized after a breakthrough case and less than 0.001% have died. That percentage breaks down to about 6,600 out of more than 163 million fully vaccinated people.
The report comes as Florida reports a surge in new COVID-19 cases and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio “strongly recommended” residents to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. The latest wave of infections, health officials say, is due to the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Southern states with low vaccination rates have been especially hard hit by the recent spike.
Public health officials have also warned Americans that rising hospitalization rates and COVID-19-related deaths have been predominantly among those who are unvaccinated.
Amid the spike, however, the rate of Americans going out to get the vaccine has increased in recent weeks, CNN reported.
“This may be a tipping point for those who have been hesitant to say, ‘OK, it’s time,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institute of Health, told the outlet. “I hope that’s what’s happening. That’s what desperately needs to happen if we’re going to get this Delta variant put back in its place,” Collins added.
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