Cole County reports 19 active COVID-19 breakthrough cases this week
COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Cole County is seeing breakthrough infections for people vaccinated with all available COVID-19 vaccines currently available - Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. The total count of breakthrough infections in the county as of Wednesday is 49.
On Tuesday there were 26 new active COVID-19 cases in Cole County, 10 of those cases were breakthrough cases. On Wednesday 34 active COVID-19 cases were added, nine of those cases were breakthrough cases bringing the total to 19 breakthrough cases this week.
There are currently 8,108 total cases in Cole County, 34 more cases were added overnight. The death count is currently at 68. There are currently 270 total long-term care facility cases and 56 COVID-19 related deaths.
Based on the data in Cole County, breakthrough infections are not linked to one vaccine manufacturer.
Chezney Schulte, a registered nurse with the Cole County Health Department, said it is important to remember that manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccines available to the community did not seek EUA approval for the purpose of preventing people from testing positive for COVID-19.
According to the CDC, a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated will still get COVID-19 if they are exposed to the virus that causes it.
Schulte said the goal of the vaccines was to decrease the severity of symptoms and decrease the risk of hospitalization.
Schulte said most of the people the health department has contacted with a breakthrough infection are experiencing mild symptoms attributed to the vaccine.
"Obviously, we do not know what the course of illness would have been if they had not been fully vaccinated, but the appreciation for the vaccine is certainly a comment we hear frequently," Schulte said.
Officials say the coronavirus vaccine is not a "solution" or "fix" for COVID-19. The vaccination does help decrease the risk of spread to others and of severe symptoms leading to hospitalization.
Kristi Campbell, director of the Cole County Health Department, said during the department's case investigations it is seeing that people who experience breakthrough cases are people who are traveling or have faced workplace exposure.
Campbell said people with breakthrough cases have been experiencing mild symptoms such as sinus congestion, body aches, and various cold symptoms.
The Cole County Health Department recommends to minimize the spread of the virus people wash their hands, stay home if sick, keep distance from others, avoid mass gatherings and mask when distancing cannot be achieved.
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City currently has 10 active COVID-19 cases, two of the 10 cases are breakthrough infections.
The sewer shed data from June 8 from the state health department indicates that 10% of the samples in Cole County were the UK variant and Alpha variant and 90% were the Delta variant. Sampling from June 21 showed 100% of the sewer shed data were the Delta variant.
