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4% of fully vaccinated Michiganders have experienced breakthrough infections, health department says

COVID-19 test
Posted at 7:01 AM, Jan 18, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-18 07:11:38-05

(WXYZ) — When the COVID vaccine first rolled out, chances of getting sick were pretty low.

Nowadays, even when you're doing everything right, it seems like dodging the infection is near impossible.

Katie Monaghan says her husband is fully boosted and had recently taken a trip to the grocery store when the symptoms started.

"It's shocking. I really thought a grocery store with good mask protection and he wears glasses was a pretty low-risk activity," she said. I think it just shows the prevalence of Omicron in our community."

Victoria Esser found out she was COVID positive after her daughter came home from college to visit.

Esser has a compromised immune system and works in retail, but was the only one in her household who had gotten all three shots.

"I never really got any serious symptoms. I had a slight cough a little bit of a runny nose. My son had a cough and a mild fever. My husband got hit hard," Esser said.

According to the most recent data from the state health department, about 4% of all fully vaccinated people in Michigan have experienced a breakthrough infection.

Fully vaccinated people account for 14% of hospitalizations and about 3,200 cases of nearly 23,000.

Beaumont Doctor Justin Scrzynski says the data still supports vaccinations as the best tool against severe illness.

"If you look at the ICUs, our ventilated patients, the percent grows the more sick the patient gets, so that's absolute proof that the vaccine is providing good protection," Dr. Scrzynski said.

For those who are vaccinated and still catch COVID, Monaghan has some advice.

"Don't be hard on yourself," she said. "It is kind of what everyone is dealing with right now."

It is estimated that the booster is around 80 percent effective against the Omicron variant.

Skrzynski says it is likely the CDC will change full vaccination status to mean you have three shots instead of two.