SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 518 residents have been hospitalized with COVID, despite being fully vaccinated.
According to data provided by IDPA via a request, more than eight in 10 of those with break-through COVID cases were over the age of 60; and 73 percent of the patients hospitalized were white and 17 percent were Black.
Of the 518 people who had been hospitalized as of Wednesday, 33 percent had diabetes, 22 percent had chronic kidney disease, 25 percent had immunocompromised conditions, 4 percent had autoimmune diseases, and 3 percent had chronic liver disease, according to the IDPH.
As of Wednesday, 141 people in Illinois had died because of breakthrough COVID-19 infections, according to IDPH. Of those, 94 percent were over the age of 60; and 83 percent were white and 14 percent were Black.
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researcher and COVID-19 scientist Dr. Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo told the Tribune breakthrough cases are "still very rare," but the numbers may be higher than reported, as the state doesn’t report breakthrough infections that don’t involve a hospital stay or lead to death.
“You’re not getting the full data,” Redondo told the Tribune. “You are just getting a portion.”
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