Rarely, Covid vaccine breakthrough infections can be severe. Who's at risk?

Those individuals tend to be older than 65 or have weakened immune systems or other severe medical conditions, an NBC News survey of health officials nationwide found."Throughout the pandemic, people who died of Covid-19 were most likely to be older, and that continues to be true with breakthrough cases," a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in an email.Full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemicIn Oregon, about 10 percent of the breakthrough infections reported to the state were in people living in nursing homes or congregate care facilities, and the majority of deaths were older people.According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the median age of breakthrough cases that have resulted in hospitalization is 74.This is the same population that has been more vulnerable to the most dire consequences of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.It's a trend that's been seen outside of the United States as well.Dr. Tal Brosh, who heads the infectious disease unit at Assuta Ashdod University Hospital in Israel, has noted that breakthrough infections tend to be more serious among those with underlying conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease."If you're vaccinated and you have a lot of co-morbidities or you are immunocompromised, you are not that well protected as someone else who is vaccinated," Brosh said.Immunocompromised patients can include people who were already taking medications to suppress their immune system following an organ transplant or cancer diagnosis.Such breakthrough infections do not mean the vaccines are not working.