What Colin Powell's death can and can't tell us about COVID breakthrough cases

When Colin Powell died this week from complications related to COVID-19, it was a shock to many Americans.

Though scientists and federal health officials are adamant that the vaccines work well to protect against hospitalization and death, it's unnerving to hear of fully vaccinated people like Powell, or perhaps your own friends and neighbors, falling severely ill with COVID-19.

So how well do the vaccines work? How serious is the risk of a serious breakthrough infection, one that could land you in the hospital?

In Powell's case, of course, there are several reasons he was at higher risk. He was 84 and had been treated in recent years for multiple myeloma — a blood cancer that forms in plasma cells, which are critical for the immune system. These facts alone would put him at very high risk for a breakthrough illness, says Dr., who directs COVID-19 clinical