Whatcom still seeing ‘vast majority’ of new COVID cases among unvaccinated residents

As of May 16, Whatcom County had 50 breakthrough cases, where a fully vaccinated person has tested positive for COVID-19, the Whatcom County Health Department reported to The Bellingham Herald.

That represents 0.056% of the approximately 89,300 Whatcom County residents who are fully vaccinated, spokesperson Melissa Morin reported.

The 50 cases also represent 1.4% of the 3,602 Whatcom residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since Jan. 22 — the first day a Whatcom resident could have been considered fully vaccinated after the Pfizer vaccine was first administered in the county on Dec. 18 — according to analysis by The Bellingham Herald.

“We continue to see stark differences in case rates between unvaccinated and vaccinated people in our county, and the vast majority of new infections are among those who are unvaccinated,” Morin wrote.

Earlier this month, the health department and officials at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported that no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were fully vaccinated.