COVID-19 breakthrough cases jump 28% in New Jersey in past three weeks, nearing 70,000

by
December 20, 2021

TRENTON, NJ – Three weeks ago, New Jersey broke the 50,000 breakthrough case milestone. Today, the state is nearing 70,000 as Governor Phil Murphy reported the 68,913th breakthrough case. A breakthrough case is a positive COVID-19 diagnosis of a fully vaccinated patient.

For the past two weeks, the Murphy administration has omitted publicly releasing the breakthrough case totals, but returned to the practice on Monday. Breakthrough cases now account for more than 1% of all current COVID-19 cases and that number is expected to rapidly climb as the omicron variant appears to be spreading among the fully vaccinated and many boosted patients.

On Sunday, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who is fully vaccinated and boosted contracted the virus.

Murphy continued pushing booster shots on Monday, urging anyone who has taken the J&J vaccine in the past two months or mRNA vaccines in the past six months to get boosted.

“Go get boosted,” Murphy said.

New Jersey’s daily COVID-19 case count has been above 7,000 per day since last Thursday, with rates higher than any other point in the two-year-long pandemic.

“We are seeing a significant increase in cases right now,” Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. “Yesterday, we had the highest number of positive PCR that we have seen since January of 2021. This surge is most likely due to delta and omicron variants.”

Phil Stilton

Phil Stilton

Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital news organization covering New Jersey, national politics, public policy, public safety, and community affairs. With years of experience reporting on local government, elections, law enforcement, and issues impacting residents throughout New Jersey, Stilton has built a reputation for delivering timely news, in-depth reporting, and accountability journalism.

As the founder of Shore News Network, Stilton oversees editorial operations, investigative reporting, and breaking news coverage while working closely with journalists, public officials, and community leaders. His reporting has covered municipal government, state politics, federal policy, public records investigations, emergency management, and major news events affecting local communities.

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