V.I. Resident Fully Vaccinated Against Covid-19 Dies of Covid-Related Complications, the First Such Breakthrough Case in Territory

The V.I. Department of Health on Monday announced that a USVI resident who was fully vaccinated against Covid-19 died of complications related to the virus last week, the first such breakthrough case in the territory.

The Covid death of a fully vaccinated, hospitalized resident was announced by Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis. The death occurred last week, according to Dr. Ellis. She did not say which island or whether the victim had underlying conditions, citing HIPAA law.

"This is a reminder that the vaccine was developed to lower the risk of transmission and to lower the risk of hospitalization and death, which is what it does," Dr. Ellis stated. She encouraged residents who have taken only one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccines to get the second shot, stating that persons who are not fully vaccinated are “significantly less protected with partial vaccination.”

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published research that found that people who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 were 4.6 times likelier to get infected, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from the virus.

The results are from three CDC studies conducted as the Delta variant became the dominant strain of the virus in the country. In the studies, the CDC examined outcomes among patients who visited medical facilities' urgent care departments, emergency rooms as well as veterans' hospitals.

Patients in five Veterans Affairs Medical Centers were tracked between Feb. 1 through Aug. 6 in one study. Another study followed 600,000 positive cases in 13 states and large cities during the spring and summer times. The third study followed 33,000 Covid-19 patients in nine states who visited hospitals, emergency departments and urgent care centers.