Breakthrough infections helping drive positivity rates
Experts: Breakthrough COVID-19 infections have skyrocketed
Cars line up at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site in East Northport on Wednesday. Credit: Barry Sloan
While COVID-19 vaccines continue to prove effective against serious disease and death, experts say their ability to block infections — particularly in the face of the highly contagious omicron variant — has waned significantly for those who haven't gotten a booster shot, Newsday’s Robert Brodsky reports.
At the end of June, less than 1 out of every 100,000 fully vaccinated New Yorkers had reported a breakthrough infection, compared to 4.5 unvaccinated residents who contracted the virus, according to State Department of Health data. As of last week, that number soared to 67.5 out of every 100,000 fully vaccinated residents reporting a breakthrough, data shows. During the week of Dec. 13, about 280 unvaccinated New Yorkers out of every 100,0000 contracted COVID-19, data shows.
Medical experts said the prevalence of breakthrough infections doesn’t mean the vaccine isn't working — omicron spreads at two to three times the rate of delta, while the vaccine's power dissipates over time, necessitating a booster. Get answers to questions about vaccines and their effectiveness against the new variant.
If you still need a booster shot, here's a reminder for where you can look to schedule one.
If you get sick: Here's a guide for what to do if you think you might have COVID-19, from where to get tested to how long to isolate.
Earlier this week: New York State again shattered its record for new daily COVID-19 cases, and one urgent care chain shut down two Long Island locations because of the amount of people seeking tests. On Tuesday, the daily COVID-19 positivity rate in Suffolk County soared to 13.7%, while it was 12.7% in Nassau, officials said.
The map below shows the concentration of new cases across Long Island.
A map of new cases reported in communities across Long Island, with Nassau data as of Monday and Suffolk data as of Tuesday.
Search that map and view more charts with the latest data.
See more coronavirus headlines below.
Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
