More than 100K vaccine breakthroughs identified in US: report

There have been more than 100,000 breakthrough cases, or cases where fully vaccinated individuals contracted the coronavirus, identified in the U.S., according to a Bloomberg analysis.

Bloomberg has gathered data from 35 states since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped tracking all breakthrough cases and found that more than 111,000 breakthrough cases have occurred in those states within the past two months. 

There are more than 164 million Americans fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. 

The CDC stopped tracking all breakthrough cases in May as the delta variant started spreading throughout the U.S.

The CDC only began tracking breakthrough cases that have resulted in a person’s hospitalization or death, which is a small percentage compared to the number of breakthrough cases that have occurred.

The delta variant began picking up steam in June and has since caused an increase in cases across the country as it is considered to be the most contagious variant to date.

The CDC gave a statement to Bloomberg saying it has still tracked breakthrough coronavirus cases despite officially stopping the count of all cases in May.

“CDC is actively tracking breakthrough cases as part of what are called cohort studies, which often involve tens of thousands of people across the country,” spokesperson Kristen Nordlund told the outlet. “We will continue to publish additional results from these cohort studies as they are available.”

States have continued tracking breakthrough cases, making it possible to have an estimate of all the breakthrough cases that have occurred.

The fear of breakthrough cases and the ability of vaccinated people to spread the virus has caused the CDC to ask fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks in areas with high transmission rates of the virus.

Updated at 5:15 p.m.