At least three people in Hawaii have been infected with COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated against the disease.
They are the latest examples of ‘breakthrough infections,’ and doctors say that they are neither common nor surprising.
It’s as sobering remind that even highly effective vaccines are not a perfect shield against the virus.
But it also underscores the real goal of vaccination against COVID-19. We don’t yet know whether vaccines prevent people from catching or spreading coronavirus, but vaccines are designed to prevent severe illness and death from COVID-19.
None of the three people who developed breakthrough infections have become severely ill and, as far as local officials rae aware, none of them have spread the virus to anyone else, the state health department told KITV4.
At least three people in Hawaii have been infected with COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated against the disease health officials there relieved
Hawaii is still seeing about 70 cases a day, with a slight uptick this month
Just five people are currently being treated for COVID-19 in ICUs in the whole state of Hawaii.
That’s down from the September peak of 56, doctors told KITV4.
Notably, one of the breakthrough cases is a health care worker who had traveled to not one, but several US cities after getting vaccinated.
It’s an issue that was raised at Monday’s White House Covid response team briefing.
Asked if fully vaccinated people can begin traveling, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky was resolute in her answer: no.
‘Related to Spring Break, they are not the demographic we’ve been focusing in on with regard to travel,’ she said.
But even if people who are vaccinated travel, they ‘go out and they mix with people who are not vaccinated…we’re so close to vaccinating so many other people, so I would just encourage and remind people that now is not the time to travel.’
Scientists believe that the more someone is exposed to coronavirus, the more likely to contract and become ill from the infection they are.
Just five people are hospitalized in ICUs across Hawaii, down from 56 in September
Dr Melinda Ashton, Chief Quality Officer with Hawaii Pacific Health, said that the breakthrough cases are a reminder that people should ‘absolutely’ be careful while traveling
This likely remains true for people who are vaccinated. Antibodies triggered by vaccines – which are between 66 and 95 percent effective – are excellent at ‘neutralizing’ the virus, but they might be more apt to fail if they’re confronted with onslaught after onslaught of infectious particles.
Plus, risk of infection despite vaccination has risen slightly, with variants circulating, including the South African, Brazilian, Californian and New York City variants, all of which have shown some ability to evade antibodies.
It is not clear whether any of the three breakthrough infections were caused by variants or whether the patients’ samples are being tested for variants.
The state’s department of health did not immediately respond to request for comment.
But an authoricial from one of the state’s hospitals warned against travel.
‘Absolutely you need to be careful during those times when you’re in the airport, on the airplane, with other people in larger groups,’ Dr Melinda Ashton, Chief Quality Officer with Hawaii Pacific Health told KITV4.
So far, breakthrough infections have been quite rare.
The CDC says it is investigating all reports of breakthrough cases but does not yet publicly share national rates.
Scientists with the national agency will collect data on these infections in part to learn how common they are, which is difficult to establish because it’s likely many if not most of these will be asymptomatic.
