COVID-19 Reinfection Vs. Vaccine Breakthrough Cases, Whats the Difference?

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced today it is now including the number of COVID-19 reinfections to the Situation Update webpage.

As of November 1, 2021, Minnesota has had 8,184 instances of reinfections since the start of the pandemic.

Today's revised version is 10,454: 7,597 are the reinfections being added, and 2,857 are new cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists recently provided an official case definition for a reinfection case. They define reinfection as when a person tests positive for COVID-19 more than 90 days after a previous positive test.

Previously, if a person tested positive for COVID-19 more than once, they were counted only once.

'It is important for people to get vaccinated even if they have had COVID-19 in the past. Even if someone had COVID-19 in the past and recovered, they are at risk for reinfection, and each infection brings risks to a person's health and the health of people around them,' says the CDC.

Furthermore, reinfections are different than 'Breakthrough Infection,' says the CDC.

A COVID-19 Breakthrough Infection happens when a fully vaccinated person gets infected with COVID-19.

The CDC reported on October 18, 2021, COVID-19 vaccine fatal Breakthrough Cases reached 10,857.

This CDC web page displays cases and deaths among fully vaccinated, and unvaccinated people reported to the CDC from multiple jurisdictions.