Latest COVID Breakthrough Case Numbers In New Jersey: No New Deaths, Few Hospitalizations

NEW JERSEY — It's been nearly a year since New Jersey administered its first COVID vaccines. Compared to this time last year, the state's number of people hospitalized with the virus has shrunk three-fold.

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Gov. Phil Murphy indicated that the decline in hospitalizations, plus the latest breakthrough numbers, continue to show the effectiveness of the vaccines.

"We’re rapidly approaching one year since our first vaccinations were administered," Murphy said during the state's coronavirus briefing Monday. "While I think we all at that time would’ve held high hopes for the effectiveness of the vaccines, I don’t think that any of us could say we were prepared for such robust numbers from the vaccines in real-world use."

Here is a breakdown of New Jersey's breakthrough cases among the fully vaccinated from Jan. 19 to Nov. 1:

• 5,804,446 fully vaccinated people
• 47,559 total breakthrough cases (0.82 percent of the vaccinated population)
• 1,027 fully vaccinated individuals requiring hospitalization for COVID (0.02 percent)
• 279 COVID-related deaths among fully vaccinated (0.005 percent)

Here's a breakdown of breakthrough cases among fully vaccinated people from Oct. 25-31:

• 2,003 positive tests (statewide total: 10,303)
• eight COVID-related hospitalizations (reported statewide COVID hospitalizations: 744)
• zero COVID-related deaths (statewide total: 113)

"Let’s step back and look at the overall numbers again," Murphy said. "This is from January 19th through November 1st, and this, again, proves the ability of the vaccines to help keep you safe."

As of Monday, New Jersey has 741 people hospitalized with the coronavirus. At this time last year, hospitals in the state had 2,146 COVID patients.

State officials also provided an update on reported cases of in-school transmission from Nov. 2 to 8:

• number of outbreaks: 12 (160 since the school year began)
• student cases reported: 54 (735 cumulative)
• staff cases reported: 12 (125 cumulative)

To qualify as a COVID-19 outbreak in a school, there have to be three cases connected and not from the same household.

As of Monday, 47,390 children ages 5 to 11 have received a vaccination against COVID.

"For parents, I would simply make the case that vaccinating your child is the surest way to help return them to their normal routines," Murphy said.