ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — Breakthrough cases, as well as the estimated effectiveness of COVID vaccines, are now available on the New York State Department of Health (DOH). The site was promoted by the DOH Monday on its Facebook page.
The website was announced September 23, during Governor Kathy Hochul’s COVID-19 update.
“The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over and it’s critical that we continue to make progress getting shots in arms throughout the state to keep New Yorkers healthy and safe,” she said. “If you haven’t received your shot and are eligible, it’s vitally important that you get it as soon as possible at one of the many sites located around the state.”
The DOH had an analysis of breakthrough cases published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the middle of August. The analysis showed the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines over time, the number of breakthrough cases, and how many cases resulted in hospitalization.
The new breakthrough tracking site shows all this information, albeit with a time delay in order to give the DOH time to analyze the information. “These rates of cases and hospitalizations over time and estimated vaccine effectiveness cover through the week of September 6, 2021 (ending September 12, 2021), to allow enough time for the data needed for valid comparisons to become available in data systems,” it said on the website.
Data on the new website shows the effectiveness of COVID vaccines waning over time from 91.9% on May 3 to 77.2% on September 6. The effectiveness of the COVID vaccines to keep people out of the hospital varies between 90-95%, showing it still keeps the majority of vaccinated people from getting seriously ill.
“The vaccine effectiveness measure, as estimated in this analysis, is a summary comparison among (or of, but not both) those who are fully-vaccinated. This comparison includes all COVID-19 vaccine doses given to New Yorkers and may reflect other behavioral, medical, and exposure differences between fully-vaccinated and unvaccinated people,” the DOH said.
The DOH said the continuing analysis of data could change the current outcomes:
“All estimates in this report are preliminary and subject to change. In order to confirm vaccination status at the time of diagnosis and/or hospitalization, the dates of these events must be evaluated, as opposed to the dates these cases were reported to NYS DOH. Because of this requirement and ongoing data submissions of infections, hospitalizations, and vaccinations within each respective database, it is expected that historical estimates may need minor changes as this report is updated to provide a timely snapshot of the epidemic.”
People with compromised immune systems are now eligible to get the Pfizer COVID booster. People can check their eligibility on the DOH’s website and schedule an appointment for a booster shot.
