Breakthrough cases of COVID-19 happen when someone who has been fully vaccinated gets infected with the disease.
This is expected, the CDC says. And while breakthrough cases are happening, the vaccine is helping prevent serious illness and deaths. More cases of COVID-19 in vaccinated individuals have many of us scratching our heads. How can someone who’s been vaccinated still get infected?
First off, no vaccine is 100% effective. When a person becomes infected with COVID-19 after becoming fully vaccinated, they are said to have a “breakthrough” infection. Although this might make some doubt if the COVID-19 vaccine is really working, statistics show that the vaccines are overwhelmingly slowing the spread of the disease and preventing serious illness and deaths.
While it can be scary or even frustrating to find out that you or a loved one has tested positive for COVID-19 after getting vaccinated, the good news is that most breakthrough cases of COVID-19 are mild and do not require hospitalization. People who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are eight times less likely to get the disease and 25 times less likely to require hospitalization or die from the disease.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is still the best way to prevent being infected with the Delta variant or other future variants.
