Massachusetts health officials have reported just over 9,000 new breakthrough COVID cases over the last week, and 61 new deaths in people with breakthrough cases.
In the last week, 9,019 new breakthrough cases -- infections in people who have been vaccinated -- were reported, with 219 more vaccinated people hospitalized over the period, Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials said Tuesday. This is a 0.3% decrease from the last report -- in the previous period, there were 9,047 new breakthrough cases reported.
The new report brings the total number of breakthrough cases to 597,596 and the death toll among people with breakthrough infections to 3,080.
Breakthrough case figures remain a small percentage of the total number of all people who have been vaccinated. Cases in vaccinated individuals account for 11.1% of all cases, hospitalizations .18% and deaths are just 0.06% 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, appear to be coming down off a bump, with the latest surge being attributed to a subvariant of omicron, the BA.2. 12.1 subvariant.
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There were 1,368 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday and 22 new deaths. There are 522 patients hospitalized, of which 168 are primary cases. Thirty-six patients are in intensive care and nine are intubated.
The seven-day average test positivity came in at 5.92% Tuesday, compared to 5.61% 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 14.9 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 5,397,887 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.
