By Tim Mastro

WILMINGTON — The Delaware Division of Public Health has found 70 “breakthrough cases” — people who have tested positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated.

This number represents just 0.03% of all persons who have been fully vaccinated in Delaware. DPH director Dr. Karyl Rattay said of the 70, three ended up hospitalized and one case led to death. The individual who died was elderly and had an underlying health condition, Dr. Rattay said.

“While it is significantly less likely, it is still possible to contract the virus after being vaccinated,” Dr. Rattay said. “The possibility of infection and potential for transmission is why we continue to remind Delawareans, especially while we still have a relatively high amount of infection in the community, to continue with public health precautions like wearing masks in public. That continues to be the most important protection measure, even after receiving the vaccine, until we are able to get more people vaccinated and decrease the number of cases more.”

“Breakthrough cases are to be expected,” Dr. Rattay added. “Even with the vaccines which are 94%, that means some people are still going to become infected if they’re exposed to the virus. That may be because their own immune system didn’t respond well to the vaccine if they’re elderly or immunosuppressed for some reason. But it also could be a combination of maybe an underlying condition plus a heavy exposure if they were closely around somebody who was infectious.”

Gov. John Carney and the DPH announced Tuesday medical providers, including hospital systems, may now vaccinate Delawareans aged 16 or older — whether or not they have a high-risk medical condition. Previously, hospital systems were only administering doses to those who had medium or high-risk conditions.

The state’s COVID-19 vaccination program is now fully open to Delawareans 16 years or older at any vaccination provider. As of Monday at 11:59 p.m., Delaware providers had administered 579,549 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“This news means that any eligible Delawarean who wants a COVID-19 vaccine should be able to get one,” Gov. Carney said. “Whether it’s at their doctor’s office, a local pharmacy, or a community vaccination event.”

The state’s waiting list is still taking sign-ups.

The DPH reported 211 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Tuesday’s update, bringing the overall total to 99,135. The seven-day rolling average of daily new positives is up to 330.7 new cases per day.

COVID-19 hospitalizations increased by 10 to 152 with 15 cases considered critical. It is the 29th day in a row hospitalizations have been over 100.

The DPH also announced six newly reported COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday. All six were as a result of Vital Statistics records from January and March, increasing the COVID-19-related death toll to 1,587.

Four of the newly reported deaths were residents of long-term care centers as 739 of the state’s COVID-19-related deaths have been among long-term care residents (46.5%).

Three were from Sussex County while the other three were from New Castle County. The six individuals ranged in age from 86 years old to 94 years old.