Massachusetts health officials have reported more than 16,000 new breakthrough COVID cases over the last week, and 49 new deaths in people with breakthrough cases.
In the last week, 16,791 new breakthrough cases -- infections in people who have been vaccinated -- were reported, with 201 more vaccinated people hospitalized over the period, Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials said Tuesday. This is an 11% decrease from the last report -- in the previous period, there were 18,220 new breakthrough cases reported.
The new report brings the total number of breakthrough cases to 565,929 and the death toll among people with breakthrough infections to 2,910.
COVID-19 cases have been rising across the state for several weeks, but the breakthrough case figures remain a small percentage of the total number of all people who have been vaccinated. Cases in vaccinated individuals account for 10.5% of all cases, hospitalizations .17% and deaths are just 0.05% of the total counts since the start of the pandemic.
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Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, have been rising, with the latest surge being attributed to a subvariant of omicron, the BA.2. 12.1 subvariant.
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The state reported 2,693 new cases on Tuesday, with 835 people hospitalized. Of those hospitalizations, 287 are hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 reasons. There are 79 patients in intensive care and 39 intubated.
There were 33 new deaths reported Tuesday, a number reflecting a three-day period over the weekend.
The state's seven-day average positivity rate came in at 8.58% Tuesday, compared to 8.3% on Monday.
Experts have said that case count reporting may have become a less accurate indicator during the omicron surge, given the difficulties in getting tested and widespread use of rapid tests where results go unreported.
More than 14.7 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 5,381,661 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.
