No fewer than 5,800 fully vaccinated Americans — out of 66 million who received the shots — still became infected with COVID-19, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed.
The infections, dubbed breakthrough cases — or positive test results that occur at least two weeks after a person gets their final coronavirus vaccine dose — represents about 0.008 percent of Americans who are fully vaccinated, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The federal agency found 29 percent of breakthrough infections were asymptomatic, while 7 percent led to hospitalization. So far, 74 people have died from breakthrough infections — but it’s not clear which vaccine they received, if the patients came from high-risk groups or if there were any other circumstances contributing to the deathS.
More than 40 percent of the breakthrough cases, which come from only 40 states, occurred in people over the age of 60, and 65 percent of those infected were women, the CDC told the outlet.
The CDC is expected to publish findings on the breakthrough infections next week, the outlet reported.
On Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky testified on Capitol Hill on what may be causing the breakthrough infections, saying the agency is “keeping a close eye” on the cases.