VDH closely watching COVID-19 breakthrough cases

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - COVID-19 breakthrough case numbers are flat in Virginia, but the state health department is tracking each one to better understand the virus and vaccine.

“The trend right now is actually pretty stable so I think that’s a good indication that we’re not seeing an increase in breakthrough cases,” said Marshall Vogt, VDH Division of Immunization Epidemiologist.

Looking at the numbers we can see what is happening in the Commonwealth and around us. Overall, the state is reporting 1,157 breakthrough cases. That’s getting COVID-19 even with a vaccine. 81 had to be hospitalized with 18 eventually passing.

“It’s expected and most times when people do get breakthrough cases there, it’s less severe, a lot of times it’s milder,” said Chtaura Jackson, RHHD Epidemiologist.

The Central Health Region, which covers the Metro-Richmond area has seen 377 breakthrough cases with 29 hospitalized and four deaths.

“The more people who get vaccinated it will lessen the likelihood or ability of the virus to be able to replicate and be able to create more versions of itself,” said Jackson.

To our south, North Carolina has 4,659 breakthrough cases with 321 hospitalized over it and 61 deaths. Health officials say these numbers are important to keep in mind when traveling right now.

“I think it’s always a good idea regardless of where you are traveling, where you are going to look at what the COVID situation looks like and take necessary precautions,” said Vogt.

So why is VDH tracking breakthrough cases? Health officials can look at what variants might be causing breakthrough cases, look for patterns, detect new variants and detect instances where maybe the vaccine failure occurred and why.

“It gives us an idea of how effective the vaccine is in the real world. We did clinical studies and trials that shows this vaccine is very effective,” said Vogt.

If you are vaccinated and feel like you have COVID-19 symptoms, you are being asked to go get tested for COVID.

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