Newly released data from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in the United States points to an overwhelmingly effective ability of vaccines to not only combat general Covid cases, but hospitalizations and deaths as well.
After approximately six months of general vaccine availability for all ages and risk groups in the United States, the United States’ premier scientific and medical establishment, the CDC, has released new statistics regarding so-called “breakthrough cases”. Breakthrough cases include anytime a fully vaccinated person (two weeks following the second dose of any vaccine, except for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine) contracts Covid-19. If a person becomes hospitalized or dies from complications of COVID, these are then categorized as “breakthrough hospitalizations” and “breakthrough deaths” respectively. Although breakthrough cases were expected to happen even with the increase in vaccines, the amount of breakthrough hospitalizations and deaths were expected by health experts to be quite low. Newly released data from the CDC seems to confirm this earlier hypothesis. In a survey of 38 of 50 states, including both urban states like New Jersey and rural states like Oklahoma, the CDC found that there were approximately 125.682 breakthrough cases out of a total of 164.2 million vaccinated people in the United States, representing a case frequency of less than 0,08%. A majority of these cases came from people with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which had an approved immunity of only 60% against Covid, against the confirmed immunity of Moderna and Pfizer, which were both higher than 90%. As far as breakthrough deaths, the CDC’s data says that there have been 1.263 fully vaccinated people die from Covid-19 complications, or a death rate of 0,0007%. This number can be compared to the overall death rate amongst unvaccinated people which is currently at 1,2% in the United States. As before, the risk of dying from Covid is highest amongst the elderly. In the state of Washington which saw 52 breakthrough deaths, 27 of these came from people in long-term care facilities. In Louisiana, which saw 32 breakthrough deaths, the median age of those who died were 73 years old, according to NBC News. It is important to note that one of the 12 states which did not take part in the survey was Florida, a Covid hotspot with the highest number of cases in the country, but where releasing Covid information to the public has been suppressed by its Governor, Ron DeSantis (R).
Due to the spread of the new, more potent Delta variant of Covid, the CDC has recently backtracked its previous suggestion of no longer requiring masks indoors, if vaccinated, and is now suggesting that people should wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, especially if they are in a state with either a high number of cases or a low rate of immunization. According to the CDC, the seven-day average of new cases in the United States has increased by more than eight times, going from around 12.000 new cases per day at the end of June, to more than 100.000 cases per day on July 30th. This new spread of Covid is being seen mostly in rural states with low rates of vaccination, such as Florida and Missouri, but also in highly vaccinated states such as California. Still, regardless of the state, more than 99% of all cases are being contracted by non-vaccinated individuals, according to the latest data. As the battle of vaccine passports rages on in the United States, with states like Florida and Texas already creating laws to make them illegal, President Joe Biden has recently repeatedly called Covid a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, a claim which is supported by the latest data. Just about half of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated, with more than 60% already receiving more than one dose of a vaccine. Now the mission starts to try to persuade those who are not yet vaccinated, to get the shot. In a recent survey by NBC, those who describe themselves as “anti-vaxxers” outnumber those who are simply reluctant to get the vaccine two to one.
For those interested in viewing the data themselves, it can be viewed here (in English). This article has been published by The Millennial Agora for journalistic purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The overwhelming medical research points to the fact that vaccines are both safe and effective.