{"id":80513,"date":"2021-08-25T15:49:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T19:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=80513"},"modified":"2021-08-25T15:49:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T19:49:31","slug":"why-is-the-cdc-not-tracking-the-breakthrough-cases-during-this-engineered-covid-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=80513","title":{"rendered":"Why is the CDC not tracking the breakthrough cases during this engineered Covid surge?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

As COVID Surges Among Fully Vaccinated, CDC Fails to Properly Track Breakthrough Cases<\/strong><\/h1>\n

As more celebrities and elected officials announce they are \u201creally really sick\u201d despite being fully vaccinated, questions swirl around whether the vaccines work and why the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention isn\u2019t doing more to track breakthrough cases.<\/em><\/h3>\n

By Megan Redshaw<\/p>\n

As the number of breakthrough COVID cases continues to climb,<\/a>there is growing concern fully vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to serious illness than previously thought \u2014 and some fully vaccinated people now sick with the virus are speaking out.<\/p>\n

According to the most recent data<\/a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 9,716 breakthrough cases resulting in hospitalization or death as of Aug. 16. However, the agency states those numbers are underreported. On May 1, the CDC made a decision to stop tracking all breakthrough cases<\/a> and instead only track cases in the fully vaccinated that resulted in hospitalization or death.<\/p>\n

That leaves public health officials without the full data<\/a> that can answer questions as the new Delta variant<\/a> spreads.<\/p>\n

In an interview with PBS News Hour<\/a>, Jessica Malaty Rivera<\/a>, an infectious disease epidemiologist and research fellow at Boston Children\u2019s Hospital and former science communications lead at the COVID Tracking Project, said not tracking breakthrough data with as much granularity as we would hope is \u201cbasically creating blind spots in our understanding of the true impact of the virus, especially the variants that are circulating so widely in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera said she has yet to see an explicit explanation for why the CDC stopped tracking all breakthrough cases. \u201cI\u2019ve heard rumors of things like lack of resources, lack of funding, lack of staff. But to me, it seems pretty, from an epidemiology standpoint, not defensible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A breakthrough<\/a> case refers to a person who is diagnosed with COVID<\/a> after being fully vaccinated. A person is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the second dose of either the Pfizer<\/a> or Moderna<\/a> COVID vaccine, or two weeks after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson<\/a> (J&J) vaccine.<\/p>\n

The New York Times recently published data<\/a> from seven states \u2014 California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Vermont\u00a0 and Virginia \u2014 that keeps particularly detailed records on breakthrough cases.<\/p>\n

Analysis showed that in six of the states, breakthrough infections made up 18% to 28% of all newly diagnosed cases of COVID in the past several weeks, and 12% to 24% of all COVID-related hospitalizations, with reported deaths higher than the CDC\u2019s original estimate of .5%.<\/p>\n

The figures on non-hospitalized breakthrough infections are also assumed to be underestimations since many fully vaccinated people who become infected may not feel sick enough to be tested for the virus, The Times reported.<\/p>\n

About 30% of the new COVID cases in Los Angeles are breakthrough cases, Deadline reported<\/a>. The number is up from 13% in July and 5% in April.<\/p>\n

As of Aug. 17, more than 12,500 fully vaccinated Massachusetts residents had tested positive for COVID and an additional 18 had died, according to NBC Boston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fully vaccinated celebrities, elected officials speak out after getting COVID<\/strong><\/p>\n

Melissa Joan Hart, the former \u201cSabrina the Teenage Witch\u201d star is \u201creally mad<\/a>\u201d she has a breakthrough case. Hart shared on Instagram<\/a>Aug. 19 that despite being vaccinated, she got COVID.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never do videos but I feel like this is important,\u201d Hart, who recently moved to Tennessee, told her 1.6 million followers. \u201cI got COVID. I am vaccinated. And I got COVID. And it\u2019s bad. It\u2019s weighing on my chest, it\u2019s hard to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heart\u2019s oldest son, Mason, also tested positive for COVID<\/a>, as did her youngest son \u2014 who experienced no symptoms. Her middle child tested negative and her husband is still waiting for his results.<\/p>\n

Hart blamed the vaccine\u2019s failure to protect her on her kids not having to wear masks in school. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Aug. 16\u00a0 signed an executive order<\/a> allowing parents to choose whether their child should wear a mask in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m mad, really mad,\u201d Hart said<\/a>, \u201cbecause we tried, and we took precautions and we cut our exposure by a lot. But we got a little lazy, and I think as a country we got lazy. And I\u2019m really mad that my kids didn\u2019t have to wear masks at school because I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s where this came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrity Hilary Duff, revealed<\/a> she had COVID on Instagram Aug. 20. Duff said she was experiencing a bad headache, brain fog, sinus pressure and a loss of taste and smell despite being vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Delta \u2026 she\u2019s a little b****,\u201d Duff wrote, referring to the variant that accounts for 98.8% of current U.S. infections, according to the latest data<\/a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).<\/p>\n

Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, 47, was devastated after testing positive for COVID and was forced to call off his upcoming appearance at a Michigan pop culture convention this weekend, Rolling Stone<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I had better news,\u201d said Taylor in a recorded video message last week on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cI woke up today and tested positive and I\u2019m very, very sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer assured fans<\/a> he \u201cshould be okay\u201d because it\u2019s the flu and he\u2019s vaccinated.<\/p>\n

Rev. Jesse Jackson, and his wife, Jacqueline, remained under doctors\u2019 observation Monday at a Chicago hospital after getting COVID. Both were \u201cresponding positively to treatments,\u201d Politico reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The couple was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital Aug. 20 so physicians could carefully monitor their condition, one of the couple\u2019s five children, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jackson, a Chicago civil rights leader, was fully vaccinated and received his first dose in January during a publicized event where he urged others to receive the vaccine as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Three U.S. senators \u2014 John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) \u2014 announced Aug. 19 they tested positive for COVID despite being fully vaccinated, CBS News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite taking precautions and receiving the vaccine, this morning I tested positive for COVID-19,\u201d King tweeted<\/a>. \u201cWhile I am not feeling great, I\u2019m definitely feeling much better than I would have without the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news came days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a>, who also was fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID.<\/p>\n

Illinois state Sen. Dan McConchie announced Aug. 21 he had a \u201cbreakthrough\u201d case of COVID. The Republican leader of the Illinois Senate said in a statement<\/a> he was vaccinated against the virus this spring, and he urged others to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n

COVID data show waning immunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of 514 patients in Israel hospitalized with COVID as of Aug. 15, 59% were fully vaccinated, according to an article from Science<\/a>. The article cited national data tracked by Israel\u2019s largest health management organization. The figures suggest<\/a> breakthrough infections may be more common than previously thought.<\/p>\n

Most of the vaccinated patients who were hospitalized, about 87%, were at least 60 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very clear warning sign for the rest of the world,\u201d said Ran Balicer, CIO at Clalit Health Services, Israel\u2019s largest health maintenance organization. \u201cIf it can happen here, it can probably happen anywhere,\u201d Balicer told Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Israel has one of the world\u2019s highest COVID vaccination levels with 78% of the population over age 12 fully vaccinated \u2014 mostly with Pfizer\u2019s<\/a> vaccine. The country now has one of the highest infection rates in the world.<\/p>\n

Brian Hooker, Ph.D., P.E., Children\u2019s Health Defense<\/a> chief scientific officer and professor of biology at Simpson University, said<\/a> \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is virus evolution 101.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hooker said the more a variant deviates from the original sequence used for the vaccine, the less effective the vaccine will be on that variant, which could explain why fully vaccinated people are getting infected with the Delta variant.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the case for natural immunity, Hooker explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vaccine focuses on the spike protein<\/a>, whereas natural immunity focuses on the entire virus. Natural immunity \u2014 with a more diverse array of antibodies and T-cell receptors \u2014 will provide better protection overall as it has more targets in which to attack the virus, whereas vaccine-derived immunity only focuses on one portion of the virus, in this case, the spike protein. Once that portion of the virus has mutated sufficiently, the vaccine no longer is effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

As The Defender reported<\/a> Aug 2, vaccinated people may play a key role in aiding the evolution of COVID variants.<\/p>\n