100 Fully Vaccinated People Have Died Of COVID-19 In Massachusetts

One hundred individuals in Massachusetts have died of COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated against the virus, according to state data.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Tuesday published state data that tracks the number of breakthrough infections in the state. As of July 31, more than 7,700 fully vaccinated individuals have experienced breakthrough infections.

The total figure includes the 1,364 breakthrough cases reported on July 24, which accounts for more than 30% of all new cases reported in a span of a week. Overall, 0.002% of nearly 4.3 million fully vaccinated individuals in Massachusetts died of COVID-19, according to 22 News.

Since January, the state’s Public Health Department recorded 395 hospitalizations involving individuals who were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated. Health officials also reported 100 COVID-related deaths involving immunized residents.

Of the total hospitalizations and deaths recorded, 34 new breakthrough hospitalizations and nine additional deaths occurred in the past week.

The highly contagious Delta variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 infections in Massachusetts in recent weeks. The number of patients getting hospitalized due to the virus has also increased by 78% over the last three weeks, according to the Boston Globe. Doctors say many 40- and 50-year-olds, some even younger, are getting infected. Many of them are people of color, and 80% of them are not fully vaccinated.

“Looking at somebody gasping for air, and you know it could have been prevented by getting vaccinated,” Dr. Amando Paez, director of the infectious disease program at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, told the Globe.

Recently, a new report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Friday found that 74% of people who were infected in a COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts earlier this summer were fully vaccinated.

According to the report, the outbreak occurred in Provincetown, where several large public events were held between July 3 and 17. The outbreak saw 469 individuals who traveled to the area infected with the novel coronavirus, including 346 who were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, as reported by Very Well Health.

Of the 469 individuals, at least 133 were infected with the Delta variant. The majority of the breakthrough patients also reported symptoms, including cough, headaches, muscle pain, and fever.

The U.S. has recorded more than 35 million COVID-19 cases and 614,249 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.