Angela Dunn said she caught the virus about two weeks ago from her 10-year-old son.

Both have received all their COVID-19 shots.

There’ll be breakthrough cases among those who are fully vaccinated and boosted, but the shots are still effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths even as the virus continues to mutate, she said, adding “the fact that we have some cases that have been vaccinated, from a public health perspective, it’s not that big of a deal.”.

But less than half of Salt Lake County residents — and just 28.5% of all Utahns — have received all their COVID-19 shots.

What’s important now, Dunn said, is getting more Utahns vaccinated since the state is already seeing “a slow, very mild increase” in COVID-19, evident in rising case counts and other indicators, such as wastewater surveillance and how many people are seeking emergency care for the virus.

For now, “the really good news” is that hospitalization for COVID-19 continues to decrease in Utah, although that’s not what’s happening in New York and other states harder hit by new, even more transmissible versions of the omicron variant that sent cases soaring around the country earlier this year.

The immunity from previous COVID-19 infections lasts only three or four months, she said, meaning anyone relying on having caught the virus during last winter’s record-breaking omicron surge should recognize that immunity “is gone, for the most part.

Still, the Biden administration’s warning that the nation could face 100 million new COVID-19 cases this fall worries her, while Utah Department of Health modeling indicated there could be up to 2,000 new cases in the state daily by mid-June, more than four times the current average.

But there “are very concrete things we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones that makes me feel less anxious,” she said, such as testing after being exposed to the virus, staying home if sick and getting vaccinated.

I just don’t,” Dunn said, adding that the goal continues to be to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases