Mass. reports 82,466 breakthrough COVID-19 cases, raising total to 5.1 percent of fully vaccinated people

A pharmacist prepared a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 dose in Chelsea.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Massachusetts on Tuesday reported 82,466 more COVID-19 cases among fully vaccinated people since last week, a sharp jump that brings the total since the beginning of the vaccination campaign to 262,060 cases, or 5.1 percent of all fully vaccinated people.

The Department of Public Health also reported 112 more COVID-19 deaths among fully vaccinated people, bringing the total to 1,054 deaths among those fully vaccinated. The number of breakthrough deaths represents a tiny fraction of all vaccinated people and underscores the protection the vaccines provide against severe illness and death.

The deaths accounted for 0.02 percent of the 5,120,310 people in Massachusetts who were fully vaccinated, the department said in its weekly update on breakthrough COVID-19 metrics, which included data reported through Saturday.

The department also reported 644 more hospitalizations among fully vaccinated people, for a total of 4,553 hospitalizations. That represents 0.09 percent of all fully vaccinated people.

Last week, the state reported 45,029 new cases, 88 more deaths, and 370 more hospitalizations among fully vaccinated people.

State officials and public health experts have repeatedly stressed that vaccination greatly reduces hospitalization, severe illness, and death as a result of COVID-19. They have encouraged booster shots for fully vaccinated people as a way to shore up protection from the virus amid data that show immunity from the vaccines wanes over time.

As of Tuesday, 5,132,780 people in Massachusetts have been fully vaccinated, according to the department.