DES MOINES, Iowa — As the delta variant surges throughout the United States, many vaccinated Iowans are worrying about breakthrough cases.
One Local 5 viewer asked, "I have type two diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease. I'm fully vaccinated since April. What are my chances of surviving COVID if I have a breakthrough infection?"
We posed this question to Dr. Ravi Vemuri with MercyOne in Des Moines.
"Their chances are excellent of surviving COVID," said Dr. Vemuri. "If they do get a breakthrough infection they may feel ill, they may feel like they have a severe cold or maybe the flu, but the chances of them being hospitalized and progressing to more severe disease are remarkably diminished."
The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about breakthrough cases is through August 16th.
The CDC said more than 99.99% of fully vaccinated people have avoided hospitalization or death as a result of COVID-19.
Of the 168 million people fully vaccinated, nearly 10,000 ended up in the hospital or died from the virus.
Another viewer asked how common breakthrough cases are. Dr. Vemuri said it's not common.
"Although the vaccines are effective, they are not 100% effective. Especially, with the delta variant the effectiveness may be less with the original strain or the alpha variant," he said.
Last question, can a breakthrough case infect others?
"The thing that we noticed about these individuals are they don't remain infectious as unvaccinated people," said Dr. Vemuri. "So, yes, patients who develop breakthrough infections can potentially infect other people."
Dr. Vemuri explained that vaccinated people don't get nearly as sick or as infectious as those who are not vaccinated.