Raleigh, North Carolina – Nearly one-fifth of coronavirus infections reported in North Carolina during the first fortnight of August were in people already fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
A weekly report released by DHHS last Thursday indicates that 18 percent of virus cases reported in the weeks ending August 7 and 14 were cases called “advances.” The report does not include any raw figures, other than the note that 22,555 vaccinated North Carolinians have tested positive for coronavirus since Jan. 1.
A bar graph in the report clearly shows a dramatic jump in advanced infections since early July, but it is impossible to determine the magnitude of the increase without the underlying figures.
But this year’s 22,555 advanced cases account for only 4% of the state’s total cases since early January. DHHS spokeswoman Bailey Pennington also said in a recent email to WRAL News that only 12 percent of cases between May 6 (when half of adults across the state had at least one dose of vaccine) and on the 13th of August they were in fully vaccinated persons.
“While we continue to see stable and highly effective protection against hospitalizations and severe outcomes for fully vaccinated individuals, we note a decrease in the effectiveness of the Delta variant infection vaccine,” the DHHS report states.
“The vaccine is not a force field,” agrees Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease expert at UNC Health, who adds that it decreases symptoms for anyone taking COVID-19.
“Vaccination protects people from the first infection “Wohl said Tuesday.” JoIf they become infected, they remove it from the system faster than without vaccination people, therefore, don’t get so sick. “
The DHHS report indicates that unvaccinated people were 3.5 times more likely to suffer from COVID-19 and 4.6 times more likely to die from the disease as vaccinated people.
“People who are vaccinated are like A students to get rid of the virus,” Wohl said. “Their immune system has been trained and prepared to do that. They are armed and prepared.”
Between January 1 and August 14, 109 C northarolinians who were vaccinated died of COVID-19, which is just over 1% of all virus-related deaths in the state during this time. Focusing on the period from May 6 to August 5, there were 11% of virus-related deaths vaccinated patients, Pennington said in his email.
Overall, North Carolina averages 37 deaths a day from the virus. In addition, more than 3,300 people were hospitalized Tuesday with COVID-19 statewide, the highest total in seven months.
As of Aug. 5, a total of 523 vaccinated people had been hospitalized with COVID-19, Pennington said in his email. No updated figures were available on Tuesday.
Fifty-nine percent of people 18 years of age or older in North Carolina are fully vaccinated, while another 5 percent have had a dose of the vaccine, according to DHHS data.
Despite receiving the Pfizer vaccine in January, Lindsey Patterson is currently in her sixth day of fighting the virus.
“It’s been a really big wake-up call for me,” he said.
Patterson said he believed she was infected with the virus at an opening party at the house she attended.
“When you’re with your friends and you say,‘ Yeah, we’ve been safe. ’You relax with that kind of limits,” he said. “We still have to be careful [and] we still have to be aware of our environment. “
Without vaccines, Wohl said he believes the state would be in a worse state position, however given the low vaccination rate in the state, he believes that the crisis of the last increase.
“I’m really, unfortunately, pessimistic about the next two months, and I think we have a lot of problems and I think we’re going to see a lot of people die,” he said. “We are in the place now, a place of waves, pain, chaos, because we have a lot of people who are without vaccination. If we no it has a lot of people without vaccination, our UCI I wouldn’t to fill up “.
In addition to getting vaccinated, he also urges people to wear masks inside again, not only to protect themselves, but also for others, especially those under 12 who cannot be vaccinated.