8 more fully vaccinated residents die of COVID, state reports
The state recorded eight additional COVID-19 deaths among those vaccinated as new breakthrough cases appear to have leveled off compared to recent weeks, figures released Thursday show.
In total, 7,121 fully vaccinated residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since February, an increase of 1,264 cases since last week report. This increase mirrors what has been seen in recent weeks in August, state data shows.
Of the reported breakthrough cases since February, 53 of those individuals have died, a majority of which were over the age of 75, according to a weekly report on breakthrough cases from the state.
Though older residents, even those who have been fully vaccinated, are dying more often from COVID-19 infections, younger vaccinated residents are more often testing positive. More than 3,400 of the 7,121 breakthrough infections are among people aged between 35 and 64, the state report shows.
An additional 1,100 people who suf
fered from breakthrough infections are between 25 and 34.
Despite the rise in breakthrough cases, the state said COVID-19 vaccines do offer protection against the coronavirus. The 53 recorded breakthrough deaths represent 5.8 percent of all COVID-19 deaths since Feb. 9, the state said.
The state said that unvaccinated residents are five times more likely to be infected by COVID-19, five times more likely to die from the disease and are at
least 16 times higher risk of being hospitalized with a COVID-19 infection.
On Thursday, the state announced 788 new coronavirus cases since Wednesday, with 3.64 percent of all COVID-19 tests coming back positive. An additional two people have been hospitalized with the disease for a total of 380 patients statewide.
The state reported that 25 people died in the past week from COVD-19, bring the total fatalities to 8,355.
The report Thursday also noted that 92 Connecticut towns are now considered areas of high transmission, defined as 15 or
more cases per 100,000 population, up from 73 towns last week.
Amid the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant, cases have risen in recent weeks throughout Connecticut. Health experts believe it is the delta variant that is largely driving the breakthrough infections in Connecticut.
Yale New Haven Hospital’s Dr. Tom Balcezak said this week that “almost 100 percent” of the COVID cases sequenced are caused by the delta variant, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday that while the Pfizer and Moderna
vaccines had been 95 percent effective against the originally sequenced coronavirus, they proved to be about 66 percent effective in preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic infection caused by the delta variant.
Though experts say that a vaccine that is improperly administered does not have full efficacy, they do not believe this issue has been associated with any breakthrough infections in Connecticut.
“The COVID vaccines, just like the flu shot, are intended for intramuscular injection. A preventable error can occur when a
clinician providing the vaccine uses a needle which is too short to reach the muscle — a particular problem with larger patients,” Rick Martinello, Yale New Haven Health’s director of infection prevention told me. “If the vaccine is injected into the fat layer overlying the muscle, the immune system will not respond properly to the vaccine- resulting in lesser effectiveness.”
The state Department of Public Health tracks breakthrough infections, Martinello said, asking providers to guarantee storage and administration is appropriate.
“The requested information includes the vaccine brand used and location of vaccination,” he said. “I have not heard of any reports of clusters of breakthroughs thought to be related to improper storage or administration of the vaccine.”
DPH spokesman Chris Boyle said in an email that, “We have no evidence that breakthrough cases are related to administration error.”
“We actively monitor the storage, handling and administration of vaccines across our providers and have not observed any issues,” he said.