HARRISBURG, Pa. — More states are publicly monitoring breakthrough infections—when a fully vaccinated person becomes infected with coronavirus.
Breakthrough cases are seen as a gauge of the effectiveness of the vaccine against new variants, such as the delta variant that comprises 93.4 percent of COVID-19 cases as of July 31, according to CDC data.
Twenty-five states publish data on breakthrough cases, according to a review by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among those states breakthrough cases account for 0 to 6 percent of total cases.
Pennsylvania, however, does not publish data on breakthrough cases.
When asked whether it was collecting that data and if the data would be publicly released, the state Department of Health responded in a statement,
“In working with the CDC, we know breakthrough cases happened in Pennsylvania. We are working diligently to perform data matching to identify breakthrough cases in Pennsylvania… Right now, we are focusing a tremendous effort on getting all eligible residents vaccinated.”
The focus on vaccinations comes after the latest CDC data reported 7,525 breakthrough cases out of more than 164 million vaccinated people, or 0.0046 percent, resulting in hospitalization or death.
“While we will closely monitor the breakthrough cases to understand what we can do, the greatest protection folks have against getting ill from COVID-19, getting hospitalized or death, is really getting vaccinated,” acting Secretary of Health Allison Beam said at a press conference last week.
The CDC data again points to the efficacy of vaccines, as unvaccinated people infected with coronavirus have a 25 times higher chance of hospitalization or death.
