Breakthrough cases in LA County account for over 25% of new infections

• More than 25% of new COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County are breakthrough cases involving fully vaccinated people.
• The percentage increased from 20% in June, when unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people accounted for 80% of the cases.
• Moderna vaccine recipients accounted for the least percentage of cases, with only a 0.09% infection rate.

COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County have risen drastically among unvaccinated people. Meanwhile, cases among vaccinated people are also rising at a smaller and slower rate as more people get vaccinated, with over 25% of new COVID-19 cases coming from fully vaccinated people.

Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said, “Over the period of July 1 through July 16… There were 13,598 cases diagnosed in LA County and unvaccinated people represented 74% of all of the cases, fully vaccinated people represented 26% or 3,592 of the cases.”

This rate increased from June when fully vaccinated people accounted for 20% of cases while unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people accounted for 80% of the cases.

Ferrer attributed the increase to more people getting vaccinated amid the highly infectious Delta variant.

Why are vaccinated people still getting COVID?

While vaccines are the best defense against infectious diseases, no vaccine offers 100% protection from infection.

When fully vaccinated people still get infected with the coronavirus, it’s referred to as a “breakthrough” case. A few such cases are expected and are no cause for alarm, since vaccines significantly decrease one’s risk of serious illness, hospitalization, or death.

Ferrer pointed out that the daily case rates in the county could reach over 5,000 if 50% of the fully vaccinated residents were not vaccinated as unvaccinated people are more susceptible to infection.

Back in June, around 92% of COVID-19 hospitalizations were either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. This figure was 95% in May. As more people got vaccinated, this figure dropped to 91% for the first 10 days of July. During the first six months of the year, around 99.8% of the COVID fatalities in the county occurred among the unvaccinated.

How effective are the vaccines against the COVID-19 delta variant?

The highly infectious Delta variant, first discovered in India, has been blamed for the renewed spike in COVID-19 cases. It now accounts for about 83% of cases in the U.S. and is particularly affecting unvaccinated populations.

While there are some concerns that future virus mutations could possibly cause more severe illness or evade vaccine protection, the current vaccines offer sufficient protection against severe illness.

A July 19 study published on the medical journal website BioRxiv revealed that the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were 94-95% effective in preventing COVID-19, while the J&J vaccine had only 66.9% efficacy “in preventing moderate to severe disease.”

What is the infection rate for each vaccine?

LA County Public Health reported that as of July 16, the infection rate for Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients was 0.27%, 0.15% for Pfizer, and 0.09% for Moderna.

Public Health told FOX 11, “Because these are all very small numbers, all of the vaccines safely provide excellent protection against COVID infection, hospitalization, and death.”

Source: FOX 5 New York