PROVINCETOWN, MASS. (WHDH) - A community on Cape Cod is urging residents and visitors to remain vigilant amid recent reports of breakthrough COVID-19 cases.
Provincetown has seen 20 recent cases, with 10 from out-of-town visitors, according to town manager Alex Morse. Several are being monitored as breakthrough cases because they are among people who have been fully vaccinated.
“We are aware of a handful of positive COVID cases being reported over the last few days among folks who have spent time in Provincetown,” Morse said in a statement. “We are in touch with the Health Department and Outer Cape Health Services and are closely monitoring the data.”
Morse noted that it’s “inevitable” that cases will continue to pop up throughout the summer due to the many visitors who flock to Provincetown. Nearly all of Provincetown’s year-round and part-time residents are fully vaccinated, according to Morse.
Travis Dagenais is one of many who spent Independence Day in Provincetown. Despite being fully vaccinated, he says when he returned to Boston he began exhibiting signs of the coronavirus.
“I got a fever, worst fever, chills, complete exhaustion. I took an at home test and tested positive,” he said.
Dagenais is now isolating to help curb the spread of the virus.
Dr. Shira Doron of Tufts Medical Center said vaccines still offer a great amount of protection against COVID-19 and prevent its spread.
“When you compare an unvaccinated group to a vaccinated group of the same size, the rate of reduction is going to be 95 percent,” Doron said. “Everyone gets some degree of protection, so everyone should be vaccinated.”
Doron added that someone who is fully vaccinated and gets a breakthrough COVID-19 infection will have less severe symptoms compared to someone who is unvaccinated.
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