The Indiana Department of Health added more than 5,000 new breakthrough COVID-19 cases to its dashboard Thursday.
While the total count of breakthrough cases have more than tripled since the beginning of August, the data suggests vaccines are still limiting severe illness and deaths.
IDOH added 5,259 new breakthrough cases, 75 new hospitalizations and 22 new deaths to its dashboard Thursday.
That’s not an insignificant jump for any of the metrics – for context, August started off with a total of 5,323 reported breakthrough cases. It now sits at 18,042.
But the data doesn’t suggest that vaccines aren’t working. The best vaccine efficacy was at 95 percent. And the promise of vaccines is the prevention of serious illness or death.
Compared to the total population, confirmed COVID-19 cases are 60 percent less likely to result in death and 72 percent less likely to result in hospitalization if the person is fully vaccinated.
READ MORE: How Is Indiana Distributing COVID-19 Vaccines? Here's What You Need To Know
Health experts say it’s still concerning to see these jumps, which is why they and state health officials are advocating for mask-wearing and other measures to prevent community spread.
IDOH reports more than 98 percent of sampled positive cases in the state are the more infectious delta variant, which health officials and medical professionals say is driving the state’s late-summer surge.
Contact Lauren at lchapman@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @laurenechapman_.
