This isn’t surprising, but there is solid data showing that almost all recent COVID deaths are among those who have not been vaccinated. The AP reports:
An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 107,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. That’s about 1.1%.
And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC News, “It’s really sad and tragic that most all of these are avoidable and preventable… We’re dealing with a historic situation with this pandemic, and we do have the tools to counter it. So for goodness sakes, put aside all of those differences and realize that the common enemy is the virus.”
Former Director of the CDC, Dr. Tom Frieden says the vaccines also work against the Delta variant that is currently spreading rapidly.
Several Republican governors took to the airwaves yesterday to encourage residents of their states to get vaccinated. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said, “With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rising, it has never been more important to get vaccinated.”
And West Virginia’s Governor has an even more blunt warning.