Almost 170 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against coronavirus, with about 200 million receiving at least one shot. As with any other vaccine, so-called “breakthrough cases” will occur, even as vaccines work as intended. Asymptomatic infections among non-vaccinated people also transpire, but evidence shows that illnesses tend to be less severe among those who are vaccinated.
We now have some welcome information amid the late summer battle over masking kids at public schools, vaccinate mandates on college campuses, and inside private businesses.
Of the 170 million vaccinated, only 6,000 or so have been hospitalized or died from COVID-19, with the vast majority of those over age 65. That’s a 0.0035% rate of serious illness or death among the vaccinated.
The bottom line: Vaccinated people, and especially children, remain safe from COVID-19’s worst consequences.
The good news with schools commencing across America is that data continues to show that children remain at extremely low risk of becoming very sick or dying from COVID-19; in fact, the threat might be even lower than previously thought.
Some 99.995 percent of the nearly half-million children in England who were infected with coronavirus survived. As of mid-July, among the 61 childhood deaths linked to a positive COVID-19 test, only 25 were actually caused by the illness, according to studies by UK researchers reviewing the national health system’s medical records.