COVID

Officials monitoring breakthrough COVID-19 cases in vaccinated individuals who visited Provincetown

“We have a lot of visitors in Town, and given the volume, it's inevitable that cases will continue to pop up over the summer.”

By Dialynn Dwyer

July 12, 2021

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Provincetown officials are keeping an eye on COVID-19 cases after receiving reports that a “handful” of fully vaccinated individuals tested positive for the virus after visiting the popular summer destination. 

Town manager Alex Morse said in a statement that there is currently no outbreak of COVID-19 in Provincetown and that the occurrence of breakthrough cases isn’t unique to the Massachusetts town.

“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. “We are in touch with the Health Department and Outer Cape Health Services and are closely monitoring the data.”

According to the latest available data from the state, Provincetown has no documented cases of COVID-19. 

In his statement, Morse stressed that “the vaccine works” and said almost all of Provincetown’s year-round and part-time residents are fully vaccinated. 

The town manager pointed towards the spreading of the more contagious delta variant, which as of July 3, was reported to account for almost 52 percent of cases in the United States. 

Almost all — 99.7 percent — of new COVID-19 cases in the United States are among individuals who have not been fully vaccinated, CBS News reports.

“We never expected COVID to completely vanish,” Morse said. “We have to do our best to manage it. Vaccinations, better treatment, and more research since last year have put us in a better position to do just that.

“As always, we encourage people to make decisions that feel right for them,” he said. “We have a lot of visitors in Town, and given the volume, it’s inevitable that cases will continue to pop up over the summer.”