The US Virgin Islands (USVI) has announced that a person, who was fully vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19), died from complications associated with the virus.
The person, who passed away last week, was hospitalised.
Territorial Epidemiologist Dr Esther Ellis, in announcing the territory’s first breakthrough COVID-19 death yesterday, did not give any further details on whether the deceased had any medical conditions that may have aided in him/her having a severe COVID-19 infection despite being fully vaccinated.
“This is a reminder that the vaccine was developed to lower the risk of transmission and to lower the risk of hospitalisation and death, which is what it does,” Ellis stated.
She noted that 98.5 per cent of the territory’s 66 COVID-19 deaths were unvaccinated.
Ellis said unvaccinated people who are obese, diabetic, hypertensive are at great risk of dying from COVID-19 if they are unvaccinated.
Over 40 per cent of the territory’s eligible population is vaccinated against COVID-19.
Ellis has encouraged everyone, who can take the vaccine, to visit one of the centres to be inoculated.