Breakthrough cases of COVID-19 do not mean that vaccinations aren’t working.

That was one of several messages that Jeanne Franklin, Director of the Chester County Health Department, shared with the more than 150 people who attended a recent NoonZOOM on the state of the coronavirus in Chester County.

Hosted by VISTA Today, NoonZOOMs are a series of informal sessions that are both interesting and insightful and dive into issues and topics suburban Philadelphians want to know more about.

“The trend is that individuals who truly require admission into a hospital for COVID-related needs are not vaccinated,” said Franklin. “It’s why we continue to promote vaccinations.”

Vaccinations, she noted, have never been intended to prevent infection.

“They have three purposes — reduce the likelihood of getting infected; if infected, reduce the severity of infection; and if medical care is needed, reduce the likelihood of death,” said Franklin.

Chester County is currently seeing its highest level of community transmission since the pandemic began.

“When you look over the past four weeks, our COVID-19 incidence rate and percent positivity has more than doubled,” said Franklin.

Chester County recorded its highest number of daily cases (1,168) on Jan. 4. It recorded its second-highest number on Jan. 15.

“It’s an indication of its ease of transmission,” said Franklin. “In the past 30 days, our new cases are showing up most in these three age groups: 20-29, 30-39, and 10-19. Our young workforce is showing the highest occurrence of new cases, and it’s trended that way for the last two and a half months.”

Hear more of Chester County Health Director Jeanne Franklin’s expertise by watching the video above.