Despite getting the COVID-19 vaccination, a small number of people have still been hospitalized with the virus and sometimes died.
Brett Kokinadis, 2nd chair of the Santa Fe Republican Party, has taken notice of a report by CNBC and wrote a tweet directed at Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that it was significant enough of an issue to warrant discussion.
"Let's talk about the elephant in the room,@govmlg: 4,115 people have been hospitalized or died with COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated," Kokinadis said.
The number of hospitalized and individuals who have died is relatively low in comparison to the 340 million doses of the vaccine given in the U.S., with 162 million of the population fully vaccinated, accounting for 49.5% of the entire population that have been inoculated.
However, with the Delta variant now the dominant COVID-19 strain spreading, breakthrough infections are occurring.
Death totals for those who had breakthrough cases of COVID-19 are 750 as of July 19, and 3,365 have been hospitalized.
Many of the breakthrough cases are happening to seniors, and a CDC report underscores that COVID-19 was not the direct culprit of vaccinated people being hospitalized.
According to CNBC, 76% of people over the age of 65 account for the number of hospitalizations and deaths from breakthrough cases.
More than 1,000 of the patients were actually asymptomatic or being hospitalized was not directly related to COVID-19, the CDC said, as reported by CNBC.