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The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus is indeed breaking through protection provided by COVID vaccines at a higher rate than previous strains, but infections among the fully-vaccinated remain rare, and COVID symptoms among that group tend to be milder, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal.
The report comes as COVID cases surge nationwide and hospitalizations among people in their 30s hit a record high.
Since January 1, 2021, and this August, there have been 16,578,509 total cases of COVID in the U.S.
The WSJ analysis finds that 193,204 of those were so-called virus breakthrough cases in fully-vaccinated people. There are 136 million fully vaccinated people in the U.S. That means that about 0.1 percent of fully-vaccinated people have had a positive COVID test.
Public health experts add that the true number of total breakthrough cases is higher than the 193,204 figure because fully-vaccinated people are far less likely to have COVID symptoms if they are infected. Thus, they are less likely to get tested.
While that should prompt COVID caution among the fully-vaccinated, it's also a testament to the efficacy of the vaccines in reducing COVID risk. If fully-vaccinated people are less likely to exhibit COVID symptoms, they are drastically less likely to have a case of COVID requiring hospitalization or resulting in death.