Former Secretary of State Colin Powell passed away due to complications from COVID-19, his family announced in a Facebook post this morning.
In the post, Powell’s family noted that he was fully vaccinated against COVID.
According to reports, Powell had multiple other co-morbidities, including having once been diagnosed with blood cancer.
Although the COVID vaccines have been wildly successful in preventing deaths from COVID, it is possible for people who are vaccinated to contract the virus, sometimes even leading to death. This is commonly referred to as a “breakthrough” infection.
That’s especially true if you suffer from the type of cancer Powell had, which affects white blood cells, hampering his body’s ability to fight infection.
But almost immediately, anti-vaxxers online pointed at the one example of one person passing away to holler that this somehow means vaccines don’t work.
Even a Fox News anchor made the claim.
“The fact that Colin Powell died from a breakthrough COVID infection raises new concerns about how effective vaccines are long-term,” wrote John Roberts, who later deleted the tweet.
Plenty of others online made similar tweets, ignoring the underlying health matters Powell had.
It’s true that being vaccinated from COVID-19 doesn’t make you immortal. But studies have shown that the best way to reduce your odds of dying from COVID is to get vaccinated.