Officials in Washington state discussed in mid-2021 that there were recorded jumps in post-vaccination infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, according to newly disclosed internal emails.

Fifteen percent of COVID-19 cases and 25 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations from July 1 to July 20, 2021, were of people who had been vaccinated—up from 2 percent between February and June that year, Chris Spitters, the health officer for the Snohomish County Health District, wrote in one of the messages. A fifth of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 were of vaccinated individuals.

Spitters also detailed a COVID-19 outbreak in a long-term care facility with more than a dozen so-called breakthrough, or post-vaccination, cases.

Dr. Yuan-Po Tu of The Everett Clinic responded by saying that about 20 percent of people testing positive in the clinic were fully vaccinated.

“ALL 3 vaccines are breaking through,” Tu wrote.

Dr. James Cook, chief medical officer at the Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, told Spitters and Tu that some hospitalized patients were vaccinated and that the majority of workers who were testing positive were fully vaccinated.

“I don’t think any have been hospitalized but I’m not 100% sure,” Cook wrote.

Spitters said in his missive that the outbreak study provided “sobering news” and predicted a “rocky road ahead.”

“Effectiveness is still good compared to many other vaccines and higher coverage would still do us a lot of good, but the vaccine effectiveness is clearly no longer what it was just a couple of months ago and folks should manage themselves accordingly.”

Snohomish County officials had said in June 2021 that the county’s COVID-19 metrics were dropping “thanks in large part to the growing number of people getting vaccinated.” Spitters had said that “relief is on the horizon.”

Just weeks later, with metrics rising, the county’s health agency acknowledged that people who were vaccinated could still become infected, but described breakthrough infections as “occasional” and the vaccinated as better off when it came to illness, hospitalization, and death.

“Local public health officials were publicly discussing breakthrough infections in summer 2021, as were many health care professionals, researchers, and scientists. Throughout the COVID-19 response, local public health has consistently been in communication about the best disease prevention measures to keep our communities healthy,” Dr. Dennis Worsham and Dr. James Lewis, now the top two health officials in Snohomish County, told The Epoch Times via email in response to a query about the internal messages.

“It’s not a surprise to have breakthrough infections. Even vaccines that work very well are not a 100 percent guarantee against infection, and we don’t expect them to be. What we continue to see, though, is that fully vaccinated (and now boosted, particularly with the new bivalent booster) individuals are much less likely to require hospitalization or die of COVID-19-related complications.”

As an epidemiologist with Seattle and King County’s health department at the time, he told colleagues he'd been speaking with contact tracers who were “hearing stories all day from people who are vaccinated and getting COVID.”

One example, he said, was a party to celebrate vaccination that forced attendees to provide proof of vaccination to enter.

Tracers identified at least nine people who attended the party who had tested positive, Lewis said in an email.

The Facebook listing for the event called it “Operation Inoculation: A Critical Community Vaccination Celebration” and said 258 people registered to go.

“You did it! You’ve survived one of the worst pandemics and presidencies in U.S. History,” the listing stated. “There’s no question we’ve only yet begun to deal with the fallout, but thanks to all of you who have fulfilled your Civic Responsibility to get vaccinated, we’re on the road to recovery, and we think that’s something to celebrate. If you’ve had your shots, join us for a good old-fashioned, party-like-it’s-2016 Burner Party.”

“Sorry for the bad news,” Lewis wrote, adding that the tracers wanted to know what guidance on masking and quarantining they should give to vaccinated people.

Another set of messages released by Hoffman showed Worsham, who was at the time the interim director of the Seattle and King County Public Health departments, reporting a spike in metrics to then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who asked for more information on how many breakthrough cases were happening and what the severity of the disease was like in the vaccinated. Worsham asked health workers for information.

“We do have information and are working on talking points for Jeff—should be ready tomorrow,” Sargis Pogosjans, one of the workers, wrote. “I think the context is extremely important—an increased proportion of fully vaccinated cases should be expected since the vaccine is not 100% effective against infection and now, the population of fully vaccinated residents outnumber unvaccinated residents.”

Worsham replied: “I agree with you Sargis—we are being clear in our conversations that we do expect people who are vaccinated to become infected with COVID. As our population becomes more vaccinated—we do anticipate we will see more given that more people are vaccinated AND that vaccines are not 100% effective in protecting you from the virus.”

The talking points weren’t included in the emails.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, told The Epoch Times via email that breakthrough infections were discussed nationally in the summer of 2021 and that the county communicated publicly about the trend.

“The fact that breakthrough infections occur does not mean vaccines do not work or provide important protection against serious COVID-19 infections,” he said. “Vaccines provide substantial protection against serious COVID-19 even though protection against transmission is lower, and vaccination plus other layered protections are most effective at preventing transmission.”