The Biden administration has announced that the United States has passed another major milestone in its vaccination campaign with half of U.S. adults now fully vaccinated. There was further good news this week with the U.S. reporting its lowest number of Covid-19 cases in nearly a year with deaths also declining to their lowest level since March 2020. On top of that, Moderna also announced that its shot provides strong protection for children as young as 12, enhancing the prospects of younger Americans. As great as those stories are, some of the most promising news was published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding breakthrough infections.

While no vaccine is 100% effective, the data highlights just how successful the jabs have been in suppressing the spread of Covid-19 since the start of the year. Out of an estimated 101 million Americans who were vaccinated up to the end of April, 10,262 individuals in 46 states still became infected with Covid-19. Out of that total, 995 people were hospitalized while 160 died. The median age of patients who died was 82 years old and 28 deaths were asymptomatic or resulted from causes unrelated to Covid-19. During the CDC's surveillance period, Covid-19 transmission was continuing at a high level throughout the country with 355,000 cases reported during the week of April 24-30. Breakthrough cases have been expected, particularly before population immunity reaches sufficient levels to further decrease transmission of the virus, though they only occur in a small fraction of vaccinated individuals.

*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)