If you’ve hesitated to get a COVID-19 vaccine because you’re not sure whether it works, I hope you’ll seriously consider the new data published Tuesday by Pennsylvania health officials.
They finally released information about breakthrough cases, which are infections in fully vaccinated people. Officials released the figures a few days after Republican legislative leaders asked for them.
I had urged the state to publish the data months ago. The numbers are necessary to prove that vaccinated people largely are safe from the pandemic, I argued.
The figures published Tuesday prove that.
Since January, 639,729 coronavirus cases have been recorded by the Department of Health. Only 5.5% of them, 35,389, were in fully vaccinated people. That means the unvaccinated are seven times more likely to get COVID-19 as the vaccinated.
Case counts, though, aren’t the big story.
The big question is whether those who get breakthrough cases are still getting sick enough to be hospitalized, or dying.
They rarely are.
Of the 6,472 people who have died from COVID-19 this year in Pennsylvania, 213 of them were fully vaccinated. That’s 3.3% of the deaths.
Complete data on hospitalizations still is being collected by the state. But the figures compiled so far show 5.3% (1,820 of 34,468) of people hospitalized with the virus since January were vaccinated.
Admittedly the information isn’t perfectly complete. Not every positive COVID-19 case gets reported to the state. Some people may fail an at-home instant test and never follow up with a test at a clinic that’s recorded through the state tracking system. And because some people who get the virus never show symptoms, there are breakthrough cases that never will be diagnosed.
Not all hospitals have reported data yet on the vaccination status of their COVID-19 patients, either. The state ordered hospitals two weeks ago to provide that data, but as of Tuesday, only 55% of them submitted it. Those hospitals cumulatively have about 80% of the acute-care beds in the state, though. So the numbers capture a good portion of the cases.
Pennsylvania’s figures are similar to those that have been reported by other states. There have been instances of breakthrough cases at higher rates, but severe illness still was rare. In July, about three-quarters of the 469 cases in an outbreak linked to summer festivals in Massachusetts were in vaccinated people. Of the five people hospitalized, four (about 1%) were vaccinated. No deaths were reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We should be glad Pennsylvania joined other states in publishing data about breakthrough cases. I hope it makes a difference and convinces people the vaccines work. I also hope the data instills confidence in those who already are vaccinated.
Vaccinated people shouldn’t be afraid of the virus. They should feel safe going out to eat, attending ballgames and concerts, going to school, going to work, traveling and gathering with friends and family. They should know that if they catch the virus, it’s very unlikely they will get extremely sick. Now, it’s up to public officials, community leaders and the media to drive home those points.
I believe America has been operating under the misperception that the vaccines would be perfect, and that any breakthrough case, even one with no symptoms, is a strike against the vaccines. That’s not the way to look at it. No vaccine is perfect. Public health officials could have been clearer about that from the outset. So could the media, including me.
When Pennsylvania’s GOP legislative leaders asked for more data about COVID-19 last week, they asked for a breakdown of cases comparing the fully vaccinated, the unvaccinated and the partially vaccinated. What will they do with it now that they have it?
In his response to their request, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf challenged the Legislature to create its own publicly available database.
“I am asking you to create a frequently updated dashboard to track efforts by each member of the General Assembly to help encourage vaccinations,” Wolf wrote. “This should include information such as how many vaccination clinics have been publicized or facilitated by each member of the Legislature, what vaccination outreach has taken place through various media forums, and efforts members plan to take to educate parents and students about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine as we anticipate its approval for younger ages in the coming months.”
Considering the Legislature’s poor track record at disclosing information, I’m not expecting many members to accept his challenge to publicly disclose their efforts. Or lack of efforts.
Perhaps they will be motivated — or shamed — to act if they see their district is lagging behind others in vaccinations. Wolf told lawmakers the state soon will begin releasing vaccination data by legislative district, so lawmakers and the public will know how each legislator’s district is performing.
Lawmakers demanded a bigger role in how Pennsylvania handles the pandemic, so now it is up to them to get more involved.
This new data should help.
Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
