'Breakthrough' Cases Of COVID-19 Rise In CT: What It Means

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont's Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe shared a revealing statistic concerning the impact the delta variant of the coronavirus has had on the unvaccinated residents in the state for the month of July.

"New reporting from @ctdph ... shows this month as delta has spread you are 17 times more likely to get COVID-19 if unvaccinated and 100% of COVID-19 deaths have been among unvaccinated people," Geballe said on social media. He is only referencing the month of July in his comment.

And with that data for the month of July as the backdrop, the state Department of Public Health is reporting that as of July 28, a total of 1,133 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut have been confirmed since the vaccine began to be administered.

Cases of COVID-19 in fully vaccinated individuals are rare, state health officials stressed. Of the more than two million people in Connecticut who have completed their vaccine series, less than 0.06 percent of them have contracted the virus.

"A case of COVID-19 in a fully vaccinated person (e.g. vaccine breakthrough case) is defined as a CT resident who has a positive PCR/NAAT or antigen test in a respiratory specimen collected ≥14 days after completing the final dose of an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine series and who did not have a previously positive COVID-19 test <45 days prior to the positive test currently under investigation," state health officials explained.

Twenty-seven (2.4 percent) COVID-19 related deaths have occurred among the 1,133 fully vaccinated persons confirmed with COVID-19 in Connecticut. None of the 27 deaths involving fully vaccinated residents have been reported in July. Nationally, the CDC has reported a total of 1,141 deaths among fully vaccinated persons.

Of the 1,133 breakthrough cases in Connecticut, 250 involve people over the age of 75, 158 between 65-74, 183 between 55-64, 154 between 45-54, 160 between 35-44, 163 between 25-32, 75 between 16-24, and 5 between those younger than 15.

Of the 1,133 breakthrough cases in CT, 171 have resulted in hospitalization, including 123 who are older than 65. And of the 1,133 breakthrough cases in CT, 24 of the 27 reported deaths involved those who are older than 75.

Latest vaccine numbers for CT

A total of 2,335,156 first doses have been administered and 2,161,166 residents are fully vaccinated.

As of today, Connecticut residents who have received at least one dose by age group includes:

• 96% of those over the age of 65
• 86% of those between 55-64
• 76% of those between 45-54
• 73% of those between 35-44
• 64% of those between 25-34
• 61% of those between 18-24
• 69% of those between 16-17
• 53% of those between 12-15

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