PEORIA, Ill. – The head of the Peoria City/County Health Department says you may be hearing a lot about breakthrough COVID-19 infections among the vaccinated, but it’s still not a high percentage.
Public Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson says only about one percent of all the confirmed cases nationwide are breakthrough cases, and breakthroughs have only been a somewhat recent thing.
“Whether where you are in terms of your immunity level, when you got your vaccine, as well as any underlying health conditions that might make you more susceptible,” said Hendrickson. “We’re seeing a lot of people that the Delta variant is having a little more of an impact and bringing them that symptomology.”
Hendrickson tells WMBD’s Craig Collins in the Peoria area, reported breakthrough cases have all been in people who had either mild symptoms, or none at all. She says if you thought getting a COVID vaccine would save you, or if you don’t think vaccines work, you’d be wrong.
“Vaccines were never supposed to be 100 percent eliminating the virus,” said Hendrickson. “It was supposed to prevent severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. With the vaccine, if you do become a breakthrough, you do tend to manage it at home, maybe take two or three days off.”
There can be exceptions, though, given that General Colin Powell was battling cancer when he died from COVID-19-related complications.
