Maryland Department of Health Releases Data on COVID-19 Post-Vaccination Infections

Baltimore, Maryland—Maryland Department of Health (MDH) released new data on COVID-19 post-vaccination infections yesterday, adding to its robust COVID-19 data reports available at coronavirus.maryland.gov. New data provides insight into the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine as Maryland, like other states, continues to see an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections attributed to the highly contagious Delta variant .

“This data clearly shows, and is another reminder, that vaccines are the most effective and essential tool to prevent COVID-19 infections, serious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths,” the secretary said. from the MDH, Dennis R. Schrader. “Anyone who is still not vaccinated is at high risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 and its variants, of being hospitalized and of dying. “

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccine breakthrough cases – also called “post-vaccination infections” – are expected because no vaccine is 100% effective. The primary goal of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine initiative is to prevent serious illness and death. A percentage of fully vaccinated people can get sick, but cases where fully vaccinated people are hospitalized or die from COVID-19 are rare. Vaccines remain the best way to prevent COVID-19 and its complications.

People are considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the last required dose of an FDA-cleared COVID-19 vaccine. Maryland identifies post-immunization infections by matching immunization data reported to the state’s immunization registry, ImmuNet, to a corresponding record of a positive COVID-19 test result. To be considered a post-vaccination infection, the person must be tested at least 14 days after receiving the last required dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

MDH identified Maryland’s first post-vaccination infection on January 26. As of August 1, MDH had identified 3,836 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated Maryland residents, representing less than 0.12% of Maryland residents who are fully vaccinated as of July 18. Of the total number of post-vaccine infections, 454 people were hospitalized and 53 people died. Data from Maryland suggests that the risk of hospitalization or death in unvaccinated people is about 25 times greater than in vaccinated people.

“Maryland has made significant progress in immunizing our population and this has now become, as the CDC said,” an unvaccinated pandemic, “” said MDH’s deputy secretary of public health, the Dr Jinlene Chan. “We urge all eligible Marylanders who are not vaccinated to get the vaccine as soon as possible. If you have any questions about the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine, speak to your health care provider.”

The state of Maryland and local health departments are working with the CDC to investigate post-vaccine infections. Additional information on investigating and reporting breakthrough cases is available from the CDC.

To date, Maryland has administered more than 7.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and reports 78.1% of the population aged 18 and over as having received at least one dose.

State continues to focus on making vaccines available to Maryland residents through the No Arm Left Behind initiative, Maryland Immunization Equity Working Group, and the GoVAX Mobile Summer Tour. To date, more than 700 pharmacy suppliers are listed on covidvax.maryland.gov, and the state’s multilingual call center is available seven days a week at 1-855-MD-GOVAX. In addition, vaccines are available from more than 400 primary care providers across the state.

After successfully completing a $ 2 million vaccine lottery, the State continues its $ 1 Million VaxU Promotion to provide scholarships of $ 50,000 to youth aged 12 to 17 who get vaccinated on Labor Day.

To view COVID-19 data dashboards, visit coronavirus.maryland.gov. The cases and vaccination data are updated daily during the 10 hour hour. Data on post-vaccine infections will be updated weekly on Wednesday. Additional visualizations for post-vaccination infection data will be added in the coming weeks.

For more information on COVID-19 in Maryland, visit covidlink.maryland.gov.

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