DPH Reports Low Death Rate Among Fully Vaccinated Individuals

One hundred of the nearly 4.3 million people fully vaccinated in Massachusetts have died of COVID-19, a rate of 0.002%, according to state data on breakthrough cases published Tuesday.

The Department of Public Health tracked a cumulative 7,737 confirmed COVID-19 infections among those fully vaccinated in the Bay State as of Saturday, July 31, representing 0.18% of the immunized population.

Saturday's cumulative count reflects an increase of 1,364 breakthrough cases over July 24. That accounts for a bit more than 30% of all new cases confirmed in the one-week span.

Since the first residents became fully vaccinated in January, DPH has counted 395 immunized residents hospitalized with COVID-19 cases and 100 who died from the virus. Those numbers include 34 new breakthrough hospitalizations and nine additional deaths among those fully vaccinated tracked in the past week.

Overall case numbers have been on the rise in Massachusetts and nationwide for weeks as the more infectious delta variant spreads, including among those who are fully vaccinated, but health experts have repeatedly stressed that vaccinations reduce the risk of serious injury or death in the rare breakthrough cases.

DPH previously released data on breakthrough infections in response to records requests, and on Tuesday it published those figures for the first time as part of the vaccination report it releases every weekday. The department said it plans to continue including updated breakthrough numbers in Tuesday vaccination reports.