Island Continues to See Breakthrough Covid Cases

Noah Asimow Monday, July 26 2021 - 5:17pm

Covid-19 case counts declined slightly, but fully vaccinated residents continue to test positive on Martha’s Vineyard according to a weekly case update released by Island boards of health.

In the update, health agents reported 10 new symptomatic positive cases of Covid-19 between Sunday, July 18 and Saturday, July 24, a decline of six from the week prior.

But Tisbury health agent Maura Valley reported a combined five additional cases on Sunday, July 25 and Monday, July 26.

All 10 patients who tested positive last week were either fully vaccinated or under the age of 10, according to the report. Children 12 and younger are not eligible for the vaccine, according to CDC guidelines.

Four of the 10 positive cases are 10 or younger, and six are fully-vaccinated adults, Ms. Valley confirmed in a follow-up email with the Gazette. There have now been at least 12 breakthrough cases reported on Martha’s Vineyard, in which fully-vaccinated residents test positive for the virus.

“All of the positive adults last week were vaccinated and all had mild symptoms,” Ms. Valley wrote.

There are now 13 cases in progress on the Island, a decline from last week but an increase from late May and early June, when case counts dropped to near zero on the Vineyard. Ten of the cases are symptomatic.

The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and TestMV — a free testing site located at the West Tisbury School — continue to offer Covid-19 testing during the week. Of the 10 cases last week, nine were tested at the hospital and one at TestMV.

Four positive Island test samples have also been sequenced for the Delta variant, a more contagious version of Covid-19, according to the report. There are currently two samples still pending at the state epidemiology lab.

“Not all cases are tested for variants,” the report said.

The Island continues to lead the state in Covid-19 vaccination rates, with 87 per cent of Dukes County fully vaccinated, based upon 2019 census data.

But the uptick in case counts mirrors state and national trends that have reported significant numbers of breakthrough cases across the country and region. In Provincetown, a case cluster grew to more than 500 people over the weekend, with about 70 per cent of the people who tested positive fully vaccinated, according to reporting in the Boston Globe.

The town has instituted an indoor mask mandate in response to the case surge.

Three hospitalizations associated with the cluster have been identified by health officials, according to the Globe.

The Island has not seen any case hospitalizations in recent weeks, hospital officials confirmed during a press briefing last Wednesday.

According to the CDC, all three available Covid-19 vaccines are known to significantly lower the risk of serious illness and hospitalization, although breakthrough cases are still possible.

The Island has now had 1,537 residents test positive for the virus, with 37 per cent linked to another case. There have been no Covid-related deaths on Martha’s Vineyard since the pandemic began in early March of 2020.

Comments

Noah, no offense, but your

MV F/T resident

Noah, no offense, but your non stop reporting on ANYTHING Covid related is getting to be wearing, repetitive, exhausting news, especially when you try using different titles to keep the Covid fear narrative fresh, alive and well. Not sure if you noticed, but a large number of your vaccinated audience have moved on from Covid.

Many of us who are healthy have complied with the extensive restrictions, mandates and vaccinations and have followed the ‘so called’ science, are done. We, as responsible citizens are done with the flip flopping guidance we have been forced to comply with this past year and 1/2 and the true facts about Covid , restrictions, mandates, masking, the variants are now becoming more and more obvious and we are making the choice to follow actual FACT based science, (not politicians and their political agendas,) and are moving on with our lives freely.

As a media outlet, To keep the fear mongering on going is a truly discouraging , destructive unfortunate tactic, as much as you have readers that thrive on masking, restrictions and keeping this pandemic alive and well, you have an enormous audience that feel differently, they are just as responsible, did their part and want to make their own choices to move on and live their lives again independently , try reaching out to all of your audiences, not just the ones you agree with. Being bipartisan is challenging in today’s world, but it shows you as a journalist report and respect all views equally.

Please. Speak for yourself,

Dan F/T MV resident West Tisbury

Please. Speak for yourself, not all “F/T MV”residents. Could not disagree with you more. Thank you, Noah, for your informative reports.

Dan, correction, never spoke

MV Resident

Dan, correction, never spoke for ALL of the F/T MV residents, I’m speaking for myself and those who have complied, have been vaccinated who share the same frustrations. Last I checked, we are all free to have different view points and thankfully we are still able to express them respectfully. You don’t have to agree with me and I don’t have to agree with you. This was not a personal attack on Noah, his reports are informative, this is about how the general media keeps the Covid narrative going as our own government/ health officials continue to send mixed conflicting messages/ facts, flip flopping guidelines and the media reports these inconsistencies with a straight face, without pause or question. People are tired and want to move on and if the vaccines work as advertised to return us to normalcy, the vaccinated should have that choice to resume their lives and not be responsible for those who make the choice not to get vaccinated. People wonder why a lot of the unvaccinated are hesitate to get vaccinated, they don’t know what to believe anymore or who to even trust at this point, it’s a shame in MY opinion.

I notice that your post is

JS W/T

I notice that your post is entirely about yourself. You have suffered, you have complied, you have done what you were willing to do. You have put up with restrictions. I’m glad you think it’s all about you. The Delta variant is breaking through Vaccinated people’s protection in more than half the cases on MV because it is not only vastly more contagious but it also has an overwhelmingly larger viral load. Some people get mild cases other people get extremely ill, some people never recover, some people die. We are in this situation because of the vast unvaccinated population not only across the country but actually also on this island and visiting this island. We should have restrictions at the ferry for all those busloads of tourists. They should require a vaccine card to sell a ticket to the steamship. Same for the airport. If people had actually been as careful as we are pride ourselves in being, if more people had been vaccinated, the variant might not have emerged. I wonder if you have any children in your life. I wonder if you know anyone with a long Covid. I wonder if you’ve read any of the scientific journals which explain that the substantial percentage of people who get even very mild Covid get “long Covid”, & that the cognitive effects of long Covid are a little worse than having a stroke. That’s in the “so-called” science journal the Lancet. You might not know any children but the children I know I desperately hope will not be confronted by adults such as yourself because most of us hope that our children don’t get anything that would give them any kind of cognitive deficit. All of which involves our having to “suffer“ the terrible restriction of wearing a mask a little while longer. But I’m glad you’re ready to be done with Covid. Good luck. It’s just too bad that Covid isn’t ready to be done with you. Or any of us.

Dear MV .Your attitude and

Islander Vineyard Haven

Dear MV .
Your attitude and need to perpetuate ignorance by shaming those Vineyarders who follow the CDC guidelines is one of the problems. Promoting following the science is in the interest of public health and is not fear mongering. It's you misinformed positions that keep the virus alive and well. One does not move on from a Pandemic that is still with us just because you deny its reality and selfishly don't want to comply with guidelines. Promoting your ignorant and statements is putting others at risk though you do not seems to care about that. It is not all about you and those who wish to make their own choices as those choices impact us all including the immune compromised who are at higher risk of hospitalization and even death from the highly contagious and more deadly Delta variant even if previously vaccinated. This is not a partisan issue, it is a public health issue, Noah presents accurate information that is protective of the whole community. Try that.

I, and most people I know,

BS Oak Bluffs

I, and most people I know, completely agree.

Agree with Dan. This is

JayEff Edgatown

Agree with Dan. This is serious and the media MUST report it. In fact, I'd like to see more detail like where the new cases are coming from. It is terrible that Covid is still around and most of that is attributed to anti-vaxxers and others who don't take the virus seriously. It sickens me that we're back to wearing masks, avoiding social contact, and stuck in a bubble. If anything, the island should get tough with this recent surge before it's too late, such as France and Italy are doing.

The virus doesn't care if you

Jay Sigler Edgartown

The virus doesn't care if you choose to ignore or downplay tts significace. It will spread until we take all needed steps to reduce the exposure. This is serious stuff, not just journalistic play.

When did information become

Phyllis McMorrow WT

When did information become fear mongering?

At this time, it might do us

Louise Ambler-Osborn F/T Charlestown P/T Edgartown

At this time, it might do us all good to read Steve Ewing's poem "If You" published in this paper on 5/7/2020. It reminds me of how things were during that frightening spring when we had no idea what was to come. The last line, heartbreaking and still all too true, sums up the pandemic for me: "Corona does not play."

https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2020/05/07/if-you

Dear MV resident, We

Amy Goldson OB

Dear MV resident, We appreciate Noah’s reporting. We can move on once everyone is vaccinated so that we are all safe. Polio was erradicated due to the polio vaccine and I look forward to the day that we no longer need to be concerned about covid and the variants. Until then, keep sharing information so that everyone is aware.

If the majority of nay sayers

Pixie Chilmark

If the majority of nay sayers are for whatever reason, conservative in their thinking, aren’t they shooting themselves in the foot? They have chosen to make this disease a political issue instead of a health crisis. They refuse the vaccine, exposing themselves and family to covid, possibly causing deaths, all to advance an indefensible political agenda. If that lowers the number of conservatives at the ballot box, what has been gained by an already minority population. Better to get your mask on, behave as responsible citizens, and in a matter of WEEKS the crisis would be mostly behind ALL OF US,

My husband and I travel to

NPB (tourist) Westchester County, NY

My husband and I travel to Florida almost every summer and with everything going on we decided once again this summer wouldn’t be a South Beach Florida situation but a South Beach, MA situation. We started looking for places we could drive to from Westchester County, NY and we have vacationed in MV many times and absolutely love it. I wanted to see what the current situation was as far as Covid in your area so that we could make an informed decision. We are both very nervous about travel of any kind and figured if we didn’t take a plane, wore a mask on the ferry and got private accommodations, dined outdoors only….we’d be ok, right? Most people don’t like it, but I don’t mind wearing a mask if it provides additional protection. I don’t want to get infected nor do I want to unknowingly give or spread it to someone else. This article was extremely helpful. We are both fully vaccinated and have been doing all social activities outside because of safety concerns. At the end of the day I feel knowing allows you to make the right decision for yourself and your family. What you do with the information is your decision but at the end of the day I just want the facts. Thank you for the information.

Hospital friendship garden in bloom.