At least two fully vaccinated nursing home residents have been hospitalized with the coronavirus, and one vaccinated resident has died. The Department of Health reports the cases were the South African variant of the virus, and contact tracing is still ongoing. State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers says these outbreaks could have been worse if residents were unvaccinated.
“What we have seen is even outbreaks that have been occurring in the long-term care settings now, with the higher vaccination rates that we have among the residents, the impact has been blunted. And that’s really what we need to go for.”
Because the long-term care residents have been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus, the cases are considered breakthrough infections. Of the more than 850 thousand residents fully vaccinated in Mississippi, fewer than 300 breakthrough cases have been identified. Dr. Byers says these cases are more commonly identified in older residents because they are more likely to be tested while asymptomatic.
“You’re gonna have breakthrough cases. You’re gonna have cases who depending on their immune system may have less of a response. And when you throw that on there with a variant like the South African variant that’s more highly transmissible, or even the U.K. variant, the potential is there that you’re going to have vaccine breakthrough cases.”
Health officials say the majority of breakthrough cases in Mississippi are the U.K. variant of the coronavirus because it is also the most prevalent strain in the state.
