New data from the state Department of Public Health continues to show that a significant majority of fully vaccinated people who died after a coronavirus breakthrough infection had underlying conditions that made them more likely to have a severe case.
The median age of Massachusetts vaccine breakthrough cases who died has been 82.3 years, according to the state Department of Public Health’s figures as of last week.
The data is yet more evidence that people who are older and people with underlying conditions should go get a booster dose as soon as possible, infectious disease experts told the Herald on Monday.
“These are really vulnerable groups who we need to protect,” said Davidson Hamer, a Boston University specialist in infectious diseases. “Those who are older and people with certain medical conditions should get boosted over the next month if they can.”
There have been 254 breakthrough case deaths in the Bay State, which is 0.006% of all fully vaccinated individuals. More than 4.6 million people in the state have been fully vaccinated.
Of the 254 breakthrough case deaths, 71% of these cases were reported to have underlying conditions that made them more likely to have severe disease.