The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 5,800 people who have been fully vaccinated still contracted the coronavirus. The agency said that number is good news because it shows that the vaccines are working as intended. While no vaccine is 100% effective, the CDC said that the number of vaccinated people who still contracted the virus, which is known as a breakthrough infection, is well under one percent.
"This is a really good scenario, even with almost 6,000 breakthrough infections," Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health in Ohio, told NBC News. "Most of those have been mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. That's exactly what we were hoping for."
According to the latest data from the CDC, over 78 million people have been fully vaccinated, meaning just 0.008 percent have reported a breakthrough infection. Hospitalizations and deaths are even rarer, accounting for 0.0005 percent and almost 0.0001 percent of the total cases, respectively.
The CDC said that a majority of the people who contracted COVID-19 after getting vaccinated did not end up in the hospital, and 29% of the cases were asymptomatic.
"Vaccine breakthrough infections make up a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated. CDC recommends that all eligible people get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one is available to them. CDC also continues to recommend people who have been fully vaccinated should keep taking precautions in public places, like wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing their hands often," the agency said in a statement.
Real-world studies have found that both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine are more than 90% effective after six months.
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