Massachusetts health officials have reported another 6,813 new breakthrough COVID cases over the last week, and 48 new deaths in people with breakthrough cases.
The breakthrough case numbers -- infections in people who have been vaccinated – include 176 more vaccinated people hospitalized over the period, Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials said Tuesday.
The case count reflects an 11% increase from the last report -- in the previous period, there were 6,150 new breakthrough cases reported.
The new report brings the total number of breakthrough cases to 617,337 and the death toll among people with breakthrough infections to 3,213.
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Case counts have been trending down in Massachusetts in recent weeks after a spring bump brought on by the omicron variant.
Breakthrough case figures remain a small percentage of the total number of all people who have been vaccinated. Cases in vaccinated individuals account for 11.4% of all cases, hospitalizations .19% and deaths are just 0.06% of the total counts since the start of the pandemic.
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The state reported 509 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday's data release, with 150 being primary cases. Of the total hospitalizations, 45 are in intensive care and 15 are intubated.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, saw an increase in the spring but the latest numbers seem to reflect a decline.
The state's seven-day average positivity was at 6.66% Tuesday, compared to 6.22% 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 has been relatively steady.
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.
Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 5,409,002 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated. More than 15 million vaccine doses have been administered in the state.
