May 26, 2021 - Health

CDC: "Breakthrough" COVID-19 cases are rare

Tina Reed

Illustration of syringes forming a health plus/cross — Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

A small fraction of vaccinated Americans experienced "breakthrough" cases of COVID-19, and an even smaller number were hospitalized, new data from the CDC shows.

By the numbers: As of April 30, there were a total of 10,262 breakthrough infections reported across the U.S., when about 101 million Americans had been vaccinated. The majority of those cases (63%) occurred in females and the median patient age was 58 years old.

The preliminary data shows that 27% of the breakthrough infections were asymptomatic.
10% of the patients were known to be hospitalized and 2% of the patients died. Of the hospitalized patients, 29% were asymptomatic or hospitalized for a reason unrelated to COVID-19.

What they're saying: "The number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that will be prevented among vaccinated persons will far exceed the number of vaccine breakthrough cases," the CDC said.

Add Axios on Google

CDC: "Breakthrough" COVID-19 cases are rare

What to read next