Unvaccinated people continue to contract more COVID-19 in Minnesota

Minnesota on Monday reported another 2,971 breakthrough coronavirus infections in fully vaccinated people, representing roughly 25% of the 11,684 new infections reported in the past week.

While only a crude comparison — because breakthrough cases take longer to identify and don't match up exactly with weekly infection totals — the data indicate that unvaccinated Minnesotans are suffering the most from the latest COVID-19 wave.

The breakthrough infection total has reached 18,790, making up 0.61% of the state's fully vaccinated population and including 1,095 hospitalizations and 108 COVID-19 deaths, according to a weekly report released Monday by the Minnesota Department of Health. The state is one of about half of U.S. states publicly reporting breakthrough cases, which are identified in Minnesota by syncing infection and vaccination databases and finding matches.

The rise in breakthrough infections could upset vaccination progress by convincing skeptics that the shots don't work, but public health nurse Nadia Higgins said more immunizations are needed and that the vaccine remains remarkably effective at preventing severe COVID-19.

"Everyone knows someone who has had a breakthrough infection, right?" said Higgins, who has led efforts to vaccinate workers and families in the Parents In Community Action Head Start preschool program in Hennepin County. "I think it is undermining the [vaccination] message. Why bother getting the vaccine if it isn't going to work? We just have to stress so much that the vaccine is working. It's actually an astonishing success story."

Minnesota contributed to national research last week showing some weakening in the effectiveness of the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infections — largely because of the emergence of the fast-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus — but that recipients remained at far lower risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death.

Mayo Clinic and a national group including Duluth-based St. Luke's also have found that the vaccines strongly protect against severe illness.

New federal data show that more than 3.5 million eligible Minnesotans age 12 and older have received at least first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, a rate of 73.7% that ranks 12th among U.S. states. Florida recently surpassed Minnesota's rate amid a severe COVID-19 wave in the South that set off a scramble for vaccine doses.

Gov. Tim Walz on Monday commended the rise in vaccinations in teens — with the first-dose rate in the state's 12-to-15 age group going from 42% on July 28 to 54.6% — but urged others to seek shots as well.

"Minnesota has come together and done good work protecting our state so far, but there's more to do," Walz said.

The toll of the pandemic in Minnesota has reached 669,176 diagnosed infections and 7,903 COVID-19 deaths, including 2,693 infections and 11 deaths reported Monday. Three of the newly reported deaths involved people 50 to 64, while the remainder involved seniors 65 or older who have made up 87% of Minnesota's COVID-19 fatalities.

The state's positivity rate of COVID-19 diagnostic testing nudged up from 6.6% to 6.7% but has remained relatively flat for two weeks — raising hopes of a peak in the latest COVID-19 wave that is being fueled by the delta variant. However, health officials are concerned that the restart of K-12 classes and events such as the Minnesota State Fair could spur an increase in viral spread.

The state so far has reported 69 COVID-19 cases in people who attended the State Fair when they were most likely exposed to the virus and infectious to others. The state also has identified 33 coronavirus infections among participants at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last month.

While the State Fair number is a fraction of the 1.3 million attendees, health officials suspect there are other infections linked to the event that haven't been identified. Event outbreaks have taken two or more weeks to identify because of the time it takes for people to develop symptoms, seek testing and participate in contact tracing to identify their likely sources of infection.

COVID-19 hospitalizations declined from 695 on Thursday to 678 on Friday — but the 187 requiring intensive care was the highest number in the current pandemic wave.

Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744