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Health officials in New York continue to urge caution and vaccination as the delta variant of the novel coronavirus continues to spread.
While vaccination does not completely erase the risk of COVID-19, officials point to new data as testimony to the protection the shots provide.
Out of 11 million fully-vaccinated New Yorkers only 8,700 — that's 0.08 percent — have tested positive for COVID-19 since April 1, state Department of Health spokesperson Abigail Barker told The Associated Press Tuesday.
That 8,700 is out of 244,000 total people who have tested positive for the virus in New York since April 1.
Barker added that the state is looking into the number of fully vaccinated people who have been hospitalized with COVID or passed away due to complications from the disease. It is expected to be a low number.
So-called "breakthrough cases" are to be expected with any vaccine for any disease. In the case of COVID-19, breakthrough cases are often mild and rarely require medical intervention.
Health officials continue to urge the public to get vaccinated, as more than 1,000 people a day are testing positive for the virus in New York, a sharp increase from a pandemic low of 306 per day as of June 25.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier this week that he does not expect the city to bring back its indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people. Instead, he said the city will "double down" on its vaccination outreach.
"Mask mandates, at a certain point, before we had vaccination, made a lot of sense," de Blasio said. "Let's address the problem by getting more people vaccinated, and going right at it, and knocking down this variant."
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