Several fully-vaccinated Tri-Citians still caught COVID. What health officials are saying

There have been five cases of COVID-19 breakthrough in vaccinated people in the Tri-Cities area, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

A COVID-19 case is considered a vaccine breakthrough if a person tests positive for the disease two weeks or more after receiving the full course of a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Wednesday the Washington state Department of Health reported it was aware of 217 vaccine breakthrough cases in the state, more than double the 102 known cases on March 30. It is investigating five suspected COVID-19 deaths in those cases.

Vaccines of all types are not 100% effective in preventing disease and the same is true of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Heather Hill, infectious disease supervisor for the Benton Franklin Health District, speaking on the Kadlec on Call podcast recorded Wednesday evening.

But the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States are “very, very good at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, and that’s ultimately our goal of any vaccine,” Hill said.

In Washington state more than 1.7 million people have been fully vaccinated, with the breakthrough cases represented just 0.01% of the fully vaccinated population.

The percentage is similar for the Tri-Cities area, where about 55,650 people have been fully vaccinated.

Data shows that those who have not been vaccinated in the Tri-Cities area have been more than 120 times more likely to be infected with the coronavirus than those who have been vaccinated, said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, at a Thursday news media briefing.

In Washington state, the median age of those with confirmed vaccine breakthrough are younger than the first cases reported, with more cases in people ages 40-59 than in previous weeks. In addition, some had variants of the coronavirus.

While the majority of confirmed vaccine breakthrough cases had mild or no symptoms, some people were hospitalized.

Although the Washington state Department of Health had hospitalization data on only half of the breakthrough cases so far, among the cases for which data was available 12% were hospitalized.

Those suspected of dying from COVID among the breakthrough cases were ages 67 to 94 and had multiple underlying conditions, according to the Department of Health.

Four of the five were residents of long-term care facilities.

“Finding evidence of vaccine breakthrough cases reminds us that, even if you have been vaccinated, you still need to wear a mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands to prevent spreading COVID-19 to others who have not been vaccinated,” said Dr. Umair Shah, the state secretary of health.

He encouraged everyone ages 16 and older to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.