Of 5.2 million fully vaccinated people in NJ, 49 have died from coronavirus

Forty-nine coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths occurred among fully vaccinated people in New Jersey through July 12, according to an article from NJ Advance Media.

This is an increase from the 31 deaths through June 28 reported by Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) on Monday at a COVID-19 briefing. Though, more than half of the people who died had underlying medical conditions, said Donna Leusner, a New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) spokesperson, according to the article.

Seventeen of them had cardiovascular disease, seven had diabetes and nine had cancer or other conditions that compromise the immune system, she said, according to the article. Others had chronic diseases in the lungs, kidney and liver.

All 49 individuals were over 50 years old, and 30 of them were over age 80, Leusner said, according to the article. 

“It is important to point out that 49 deaths due to COVID-19 among 4.8 million fully vaccinated state residents is slightly greater than one in 100,000 fully vaccinated individuals,” DOH Communicable Disease Service Medical Director Edward Lifshitz said. “That means vaccines are about 99.999 (percent) effective in preventing deaths due to COVID-19.”

The state reported 3,474 cases among fully vaccinated residents through June 28, equating to a 99.92 percent rate of effectiveness against contracting COVID-19, Murphy said on Monday.

There are 5,219,287 fully vaccinated New Jerseyans as of today, according to the state’s COVID-19 Dashboard. New Jersey has approximately 9.2 million residents, including those who are not full-time residents, according to an article from NJ Advance Media.

But COVID-19 cases have been on the rise with the spread of the more contagious delta variant, mainly in those who remain unvaccinated, Murphy said on Monday. The state has confirmed 803 new cases so far today.

“These numbers speak for themselves,” Murphy said. “I cannot repeat it enough. We do not have a pandemic among the vaccinated. We only have a pandemic among the unvaccinated.”