Massachusetts health officials have reported another 6,778 new breakthrough COVID cases over the last week, and 43 new deaths in people with breakthrough cases.
The breakthrough case numbers -- infections in people who have been vaccinated – include 172 more vaccinated people hospitalized over the period, Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials said Tuesday.
The case count reflects a 24% decrease from the last report -- in the previous period, there were 9,019 new breakthrough cases reported.
The new report brings the total number of breakthrough cases to 604,374 and the death toll among people with breakthrough infections to 3,123.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
Breakthrough case figures remain a small percentage of the total number of all people who have been vaccinated. Cases in vaccinated individuals account for 11.2% of all cases, hospitalizations .18% and deaths are just 0.06% of the total counts since the start of the pandemic.
Massachusetts health officials reported 4,066 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, a number that reflects the holiday weekend, and 15 new deaths.
In total, there have been 1,752,342 cases and 19,616 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
More on the COVID-19 pandemic
The state reported 469 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday's data release, with 130 being primary cases. Of the total hospitalizations, 53 are in intensive care and 16 are intubated.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, had been trending up in recent weeks, but the latest numbers seem to reflect a decline in the spring bump.
The state's seven-day average positivity was at 5.39% Tuesday, compared to 5.62% on Friday.
This spring bump was well below the types of case counts and hospitalizations seen at height of the omicron surge in January, when average daily case counts reached over 28,000 and hospitalizations peaked at around 3,300.
COVID levels in wastewater, as reported by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's tracking system have also started to signal declines. The levels of virus seen in the wastewater also remain nowhere near where they were during the peak of the omicron surge.
Experts have also said that case count reporting became a less accurate indicator during the omicron surge, given the difficulties in getting tested. Now, widespread use of rapid tests means that some results go unreported.
More than 14.9 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 5,401,869 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.
