Whatcom County sees 17 people test positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated

Whatcom County is one of 18 counties in Washington state to see people test positive for COVID-19 more than two weeks after being fully vaccinated, the Whatcom County Health Department told The Bellingham Herald in an email Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Health announced in a release that it was investigating 102 reports of what scientists call “vaccine breakthrough” cases, which the state said are expected with any vaccine. Those cases represent less than 0.01% of the more than 1.23 million Washington state residents who had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as of Saturday, March 27.

Eight people were sick enough to be hospitalized and two potential deaths are being investigated, the state reported.