Breakthrough COVID cases? Utah Department of Health has the numbers.

SALT LAKE CITY — Breakthrough Covid cases remain extremely low for vaccinated Utahns. Breakthrough cases occur when vaccinated people test positive for the virus.

The Utah Department of Health tracks the number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases on its website, coronavirus.utah.gov. 

Breakthrough cases by the numbers

About seven months since the rollout of the vaccine, the department said there have been about 5,500 breakthrough cases, resulting in 19 deaths. As of Friday, the department reported a total of 438,479 cases and 2,494 deaths since the pandemic began. The number of breakthrough infections equals 0.375% of total cases and 0.0013% of total deaths.

Charla Haley with the Utah Department of Health said the coronavirus vaccines are “very effective.”

“It’s just not 100% effective,” Haley told KSL NewsRadio. “And it’s also a lot better for you than getting sick with COVID.”

Prevent the infection

Information provided by the health department says the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are 95% effective in preventing infection of COVID-19, though slightly less effective — about 88% — against the Delta variant. But vaccinated people can still be carriers of the variant.

“We do know that people who’ve been vaccinated  can still sometimes spread the infection, depending on if they have a variant,” she said.

Haley says the department may be able to say which of the vaccines is most effective in preventing breakthrough infections, but she says, “we’re not there yet.”

Read more:

• Doctors are reaching out to patients individually about the Covid-19 vaccine
• U.S. planning to require COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers
• Four of the eight Utah COVID-19 deaths reported today were under age 45