COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rise among vaccinated

The proportion of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations among vaccinated Pennsylvania residents rose sharply last month. The latest Department of Health data on so-called “breakthrough” infections shows that between Sept. 5 and Oct. 4, vaccinated people represented just over a quarter — 26% — of more than 135,000 new infections and nearly 5,000 hospital admissions across the state.

When the Health Department released its initial set of data on breakthrough cases Sept. 14, just 6% of cases and 5% of hospitalizations since January were among vaccinated residents.

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what is happening nationally. Breakthrough cases accounted for 14% of U.S. hospitalizations and 16% of deaths in June and July, about twice the percentage as earlier in the year, according to a study released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State officials are seeking to learn more about Pennsylvania’s breakthrough cases, including the length of time that people had been vaccinated before getting infected, whether they had underlying health conditions that increased the risk, and their age.

Separately, Commonwealth Partners, a free-market advocacy association based in Harrisburg, released weekly Health Department data that it obtained through an open-records request that showed similar increases in cases and hospitalizations among vaccinated people — along with rising deaths. About a third of the state’s deaths from early July to mid-August were among vaccinated residents.

Gina Diorio, the group’s public affairs director, accused the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf of seemingly concealing the more recent COVID-19 trends when state health officials released the first batch of breakthrough data last month.

“In September, (the Health Department) had to know that the current numbers were different from what they were releasing. Why not give Pennsylvanians current info? What’s to hide?” Diorio said. “Ultimately, this is about transparency. It shouldn’t have taken a Right-to-Know request for the Wolf administration to release this info to the public.”

Last month, even as the state was in the grips of delta, unvaccinated people had triple the risk of being infected and landing in the hospital, the numbers show.

Full article