Over 3,800 Germans got sick with Covid-19 following full vaccination, hundreds were hospitalized – health watchdog

Germany has registered more than 3,800 symptomatic Covid-19 cases among people that were fully vaccinated against the disease since February, the nation’s disease control and prevention agency, the Robert Koch Institute, said.

A total of 3,806 Germans developed symptoms of Covid-19 at least two weeks after getting fully vaccinated against the virus between February 1 and July 7, 2021, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said in its latest status report published late on Wednesday. 

Another 4,110 people also contracted the virus after full vaccination but had asymptomatic cases over the same period, the agency said. More than 270 people – mostly elderly – had to be hospitalized with Covid-19 despite getting all the necessary vaccine doses. 

A Covid-19 variant first discovered in the UK was responsible for most symptomatic cases in vaccinated patients between February and July, while the Indian coronavirus strain also known as the Delta variant led to just over 120 such cases over the same period. Still, the Indian strain was responsible for around half of symptomatic cases among those vaccinated over the last four weeks. 

The number of symptomatic cases among those who were fully vaccinated accounted for a tiny percentage of the total number of Covid-19 cases recorded between February and July. It amounted to just 0.29% of all cases reported in adults under 60 and around 1% among the elderly aged 60 or older. 

The average vaccine effectiveness for the period between February and July accounted for 92% among adults under 60 and for 91% among the elderly, the RKI said in its report without providing any details related to any specific jabs.

The data it received confirm the high effectiveness of the vaccines reported on the basis of clinical studies, the agency added. Almost 34 million Germans got fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by July 8, according to the RKI data. That amounts to about 40% of Germany’s population. More than 57% of Germans received at least one vaccine dose. 

The agency also reported 970 new cases on Thursday and 31 deaths. Overall, Germany has recorded 3,733,519 infections since the start of the pandemic and 91,141 deaths. Earlier on Thursday, the RKI warned that the more contagious Delta strain, previously known as the Indian Covid-19 variant, is gradually conquering new ground, becoming the prevalent strain in Germany. 

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