Thread by @RockefellerFdn

#Covid19 #vaccine breakthrough and re-infections are rare. Timely information about these infections is crucial to our understanding of the clinical and epidemiological implications of the breakthrough cases. [Read the full blog below & follow this 🧵 1/8] rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/the-u-s-c…

The US is facing another Covid-19 data challenge. With @cdcgov scaling back on reporting breakthrough cases, we risk missing critical details on the true public health impact of SARS-CoV-2, the related variants, and vaccine effectiveness. [2/8]

To date, 13 states are reporting vaccine breakthroughs publicly on a regular basis, with varying levels of detail. 8 states report only total numbers and/or the number of vaccine breakthroughs that resulted in hospitalization or death. [3/8]

Our research into US state reporting of vaccine breakthrough cases can be found here: airtable.com/shrfozPg0LLtFs… [4/8]

In many states, public information about vaccine breakthrough cases are only available via media reports, which may be incomplete or even biased. Some states do not make the information public at all. [5/8]

The 10k breakthrough cases reported to the CDC as of 4/30 is likely an undercount. Among them, only 555 of the specimens had sequencing data available. There are numerous reasons for such a low number of sequenced samples, including both technical issues & policy decisions. [6/8]

Even if the incidence of breakthrough infections is low, the lack of standardized reporting puts 🇺🇸 at yet another data disadvantage. The Covid-19 pandemic is not over & our management of this data will either prepare us for the next pandemic, or set us up for failure. [7/8]

Read "The US Can Lead the Way in Vaccine Breakthrough Reporting. Will It Squander This Opportunity?" from @jjhoutman, @jessicamalaty, @RickABright, Lindsey Shultz, MD, and @NotoriousRSG. #MeetingThisMoment @COVID19Tracking [8/8]
rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/the-u-s-c…