FILE PHOTO – COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Braňo on Unsplash
Those who contract the coronavirus 14 days or more after becoming fully vaccinated are labeled “breakthrough” cases by the state health department. The state reported Thursday there are 1,331 breakthrough cases in Utah.
The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) issued a statement Thursday saying no vaccines are 100 percent effective at preventing illness in vaccinated people but that Utah data shows the vaccines have been remarkably effective protecting vaccinated Utahns from COVID-19. It said data also indicates the vast majority of new cases are in unvaccinated people which is driving the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
The 527 new coronavirus cases reported Wednesday and 462 more Thursday are considerably more than the rolling seven-day average which has now grown to 324 a day.
Thursday’s report included one new COVID-19 death, bringing the pandemic-long list of coronavirus fatalities to 2,337.
The Bear River Health Department reported 15 new cases since Wednesday and a new total of 22,238 in the district since the start of the pandemic.
The UDOH said Thursday 1.37 million Utahns are fully vaccinated and over the course of the pandemic over 2.8 million total vaccines have been administered statewide.
The number of fully immunized people in the Bear River Health Department has grown to 50.2 percent of all adults in northern UtaH (65,267 people). That includes 52.5 percent in Cache County, 45.1 percent in Box Elder County and 45.7 percent in Rich County.
Continuing increases are noted Thursday in the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” now up to 8.9 percent from 8.6 percent and in the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests,” which grew from 5.6 to 5.9 percent.
Utah’s current coronavirus hospitalizations now total 158, nine fewer than Wednesday, with 65 in intensive care, five fewer than on Wednesday. Since the start of the outbreak 17,372 Utahns have been hospitalized.
The most recent report from Idaho shows 2,140 coronavirus deaths with 194,520 confirmed COVID-19 cases. In the three southeast Idaho counties case counts include 1,215 positive cases in Franklin County, 394 in Bear Lake County and 364 in Oneida County.