Almost 4,000 Fully Vaccinated People Test Positive For Covid-19 In Massachusetts

A recent data from the state Department of Public Health has revealed that almost 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts have tested positive for Covid-19.

As of June 12, there have been 3,791 COVID-19 cases out of more than 3.7 million fully vaccinated people. That comes to 0.1% of vaccinated people testing positive for Covid in Massachusetts.

The state Department of Public Health did not share how many of the infections have been severe, but public health experts told Boston Herald that a lot of such cases are either asymptomatic or mild. "We’re learning that many of the breakthrough infections are asymptomatic or they’re very mild and brief in duration. The viral load is not very high," said Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer.

"Breakthroughs are expected, and we need to better understand who’s at risk and whether people who have a breakthrough can transmit the virus to others. In some cases, they’ll be shedding such low levels of the virus and won’t be transmitting to others," he added.

Vaccinated people who have had a known exposure to coronavirus should get themselves tested even if they start showing mild symptoms, said the state Department of Public Health. “Testing to identify current infection remains critical to control of Covid-19,” DPH said in a statement.

“People with current infection can spread the virus to others and isolation of cases and identification of close contacts (individuals who may have been exposed) is a foundation of public health response. The number of Covid-19 cases in MA is low right now and it is important to continue to take appropriate public health action to keep that number low.

“The public health recommendation encouraging testing remains in place as we continue to move through this pandemic to monitor for changes in Covid-19 activity," the agency added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that several clinical studies have found that coronavirus vaccination prevented a lot of people from getting the virus, reported Fox News. Still, no vaccine is 100% effective at preventing the disease and there will be "a small percentage of fully vaccinated people who still get sick, are hospitalized, or die from Covid-19," the agency said.

A recent study from the CDC revealed that Pfizer and Moderna are about 90% effective against infection two weeks after the last dose has passed.

As of Monday, over 150 million people in the US have been fully vaccinated, said the CDC.