C.D.C. Will Not Investigate Mild Infections in Vaccinated Americans (NYT)

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/health/coronavirus-breakthrough-infections.html

C.D.C. Will Not Investigate Mild Infections in Vaccinated Americans
At least 10,000 vaccinated people were infected with the coronavirus through the end of April. Now the agency has stopped pursuing the mildest cases.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
May 25, 2021 Updated 12:24 p.m. ET

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The numbers suggest that the vaccines are highly effective and generally working as expected. On May 1, the agency decided to investigate only the most severe breakthrough infection cases, while still collecting voluntary reports on breakthrough cases from state and local health departments.

The agency will carry out vaccine effectiveness studies that include data on breakthrough cases, but only in limited populations, such as health care workers and essential workers, older adults, and residents at long-term care facilities, a spokeswoman said.

Asked to explain the change, a C.D.C. spokeswoman said that no vaccine was 100 percent effective, but that the number of Covid-19 cases in fully vaccinated people is small and no significant demographic trends had been identified.

The change means the agency will continue to investigate cases like the death of a vaccinated resident of a nursing home in Kentucky but not the infections of more than 20 other vaccinated residents and employees in the same home who did not require hospitalization.

It is not clear whether the agency will investigate the outbreak that infected eight vaccinated members of the Yankees organization, because most of them did not develop Covid-19 symptoms at all. (Gleyber Torres, the Yankees’ two-time All-Star shortstop, tested positive after vaccination, as did three coaches and four staff members.)