As of Sunday, 1.8 million Michiganders were fully vaccinated, according to the state's COVID-19 vaccine dashboard.

State health officials say 246 fully vaccinated Michiganders contracted coronavirus from January to March, and three have died. .

"These are individuals who have had a positive test 14 or more days after the last dose in the vaccine series," said Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the state health department.

Although so-called vaccine breakthrough cases are rare, and all three COVID-19 vaccines on the market are considered highly effective with efficacy rates ranging from 72% for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine to 94% and 95% for Moderna's and Pfizer's, respectively, it can happen. .

Several hundred manufacturing employees at the General Motors Factory Zero receive on-site COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday, March 17, 2021, enabled by the City of Detroit’s ongoing vaccine program in Detroit.

"But the possibility of infection and further transmission is why we continue to encourage Michiganders to take precautions while out in public, including wearing masks, washing hands and social distancing, even after receiving the vaccine until more Michiganders have been able to be vaccinated."

Hospitalization data for 129 of the fully vaccinated cases is incomplete, Sutfin said

The three fully vaccinated people who died, Sutfin said, were all ages 65 and older

"While the majority of the population develops full immunity within 14 days of completion of their vaccine series, a small proportion appear to take longer to mount a full antibody response," Sutfin said

The state's COVID-19 vaccine dashboard shows nearly 3 million Michiganders had gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 1.8 million were fully vaccinated as of Sunday. 

"We have increased our vaccine program over the last couple of weeks, which has helped us reach an historic milestone of four million vaccines in under four months