Travel News 13 august 2021 uk travel news 13 august 2021 travel news.travel trips news. Things to do before traveling. Featured tourism news. Tourism Travel shopping news. Travel news before 13 august. in travel news today is 13 august
In most cases, a "breakthrough" means a sudden, dramatic or important discovery. With Covid-19, however, the expression has been used to describe an infection that "broke" through the protective immunity of the vaccine -- and this is sometimes misinterpreted as a sign the vaccine is not working.
For the public health community and the scientists who helped create the vaccines, however, "breakthrough infection" signifies just the opposite: proof the vaccine is doing its job, just as it should.
It is confusing: How well do the vaccines really work and what does it mean if someone still becomes infected after being vaccinated?
First, let's take a look at the data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was analyzed by CNN's health team. More than 164 million people in the United States were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of early August. Our analysis of the agency's data found fewer than 0.001% of those individuals -- 1,507 people -- died and fewer than 0.005% -- 7,101 people -- were reported to the CDC as having been hospitalized with Covid-19. Reporting to the CDC is not mandatory, but 49 states do contribute to these totals, which means the CDC views these numbers as a useful snapshot of how well the vaccine is working.
The data suggest that more than 99.99% of fully vaccinated people have not had a breakthrough case of Covid-19 resulting in hospitalization or death.
While it's true that some of that data come from a time before the Delta variant swept over the country and rates of infection have since increased, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released in July found that, of the more than 18 states that reported data, at least 95 out of every 100 hospitalizations and deaths were in the unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.
At the same time, however, many of us know someone who, after being fully vaccinated, has tested positive for the coronavirus and showed symptoms. I know several, as well. Maybe it's your kid's teacher, your brother-in-law, your neighbor, your coworker or your mechanic. And while it's great news that we can leave chicken soup at their door instead of attending their memorial service, it makes the phenomenon seem very real and not at all "rare" -- so we should probably stop describing them that way. In fact, because vaccinated individuals are not getting tested very often, we have no idea how common these infections really are.
The whole situation really got me to thinking about the term "breakthrough infections" and whether it is even the right phrase. To me, it doesn't seem nuanced enough to describe what's going on; it only serves to alarm those of us who are already vaccinated, and potentially discourage those who are hesitant.