Nova Scotia reported its first set of breakthrough COVID-19 cases Friday, and the province’s top doctor says the numbers are consistent with his expectations.
On Friday, Nova Scotia reported there were 3,902 COVID-19 cases between March 15 and June 1 in the province.
Of those, 24 cases or 0.6 per cent were fully vaccinated people. Those who were partially vaccinated made up 187 or 4.8 per cent of those cases.
Those numbers slightly change for hospitalizations. In that time frame, 242 people were hospitalized and two of those people — or 0.8 per cent — were fully vaccinated. Twenty-six or 10.7 per cent were partially vaccinated.
There were also 19 deaths in that time frame. One person who was fully vaccinated died making up 5.3 per cent of the total deaths. Two other people who were partially vaccinated also died totalling 10.5 per cent of those deaths.
“We expect to see some breakthrough cases, as I’ve explained before,” Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said at Friday’s COVID-19 briefing. “The vaccine is not 100 per cent for any one individual.”
Despite a person getting vaccinated, whether its one dose or two, it’s still possible for those people to contract COVID-19.
“But it’ll be a small percentage of the total number of cases,” Strang said. “Occasionally, there will hospitalizations and occasionally there will be deaths.
“This is expected; we will see those numbers. It does not at all mean that the vaccine is not working.”
A breakthrough case is somebody who contracts COVID-19 at least 14 days after receiving their first or second vaccine dose.
That’s because it takes at least for 14 days for a healthy person — and sometimes longer for other people — to start developing a strong immune response and see protection from the COVID-19 vaccine.
People who don’t meet the definition of a breakthrough case are people who aren’t vaccinated or anyone who contracts COVID-19 within 14 days of receiving a vaccine.
“Within that first 14 days of their first dose, they’re still very susceptible to COVID,” Strang said. “So, the definition of a breakthrough is 14 or more days.”
He said the “vast majority of people” will receive good protection from the vaccine. However, some people — including older adults and people with immune conditions — won’t see the same benefits.
“That’s one of the key reasons why we have to have high levels of uptake in the overall population: to protect those around us who may not individually respond as well to the vaccine,” he said.
“All these numbers are actually consistent with what we expect to happen.”
As more people get COVID-19 vaccine doses, Nova Scotia and other Canadian provinces have started reviewing breakthrough case data.
More than 56 per cent of Nova Scotians have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose; more than 4.5 per cent of people have gotten their second doses.
Breakthrough COVID cases 'consistent' with expectations: Strang - HalifaxToday.ca
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