Marin Reports 199 Confirmed Breakthrough Cases

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin County on Thursday confirmed it has experienced 199 breakthrough coronavirus cases.

Just four of those have led to hospitalized and none have died, county officials said.

The first confirmed breakthrough case was reported March 3, and it did not involve the highly contagious delta variant, county officials said.

Breakthrough cases involve fully vaccinated people becoming infected.

Breakthrough cases are typically mild, UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi told NPR.

"Those mild breakthroughs, according to a New England Journal study three weeks ago, are accompanied by lower viral loads and less — much less — symptoms," Gandhi said, noting that according to the study "if you get a mild breakthrough with any variant, you have a 40% lower viral load in your nose after vaccination than you do if you had a natural infection," she said.

Also See: Marin County Has The Most Per-Capita Deaths From COVID-19 In The Bay Area

Marin has experienced an uptick in cases since the state’s June 15 reopening that county officials said has been driven by the delta variant.

The 199 breakthrough cases represent a fraction of those who have been vaccinated.

According to Marin’s vaccination dashboard, 206,834 residents (92.6 percent of the county residents at least 12 years of age) have had at least one jab and 190,936 (85.5 percent) have completed their vaccination series.

Marin was ranked the nation’s most vaccinated county in May according to data analysis conducted by The San Francisco Chronicle.

“One fact that has been proven time and time again during this past year is that vaccines save lives,” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said Thursday.

“That’s why 99.5 percent of COVID-19 deaths and 97 percent of possible hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated. It’s also why nearly every death from COVID-19 is a preventable tragedy.”