Vermont’s October infections break pandemic record

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont broke another pandemic record Friday. With two days left of reporting in October, the state has already hit a new high for infections in a single month.

With almost 5,700 cases this month, the state beat September’s record case count of 5,200.

Before the delta surge began this summer, Vermonters were already some of the most vaccinated people in the world. How much of a factor did breakthrough cases play in hospitalizations and deaths this fall?

For hospitalizations, numbers from the Vermont Department of Health for August show 28% were breakthroughs, 37% in September, and 48% for the first three weeks of October.

Half of the deaths in August were breakthrough cases. Almost three-quarters of them in September were. And it was 40% for the first three weeks of October.

Of the 91 Vermonters who were fully vaccinated and died, at least one-third were 70-years old or older. But covid targets the elderly -- vaccinated or not -- the data shows that of all deaths during the entire pandemic, almost 77% were our oldest seniors.

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