Nurse who was vaccinated contracts COVID-19, expert says it ‘needed more time’
The vaccine incubation period may be as long as two weeks for the recipient to start to develop protection from the coronavirus.
An emergency room nurse in California has tested positive for coronavirus after receiving the vaccination.
Read More: ‘Vaccine for the world’ gets approved by watchdog in the UK
According to ABC 10 News San Diego, a man identified as Matthew W. works at two different hospitals, and his symptoms peaked on Christmas Day even after having the vaccine. The nurse informed the news outlet that he received the Pfizer vaccine and had no side effects beyond a sore arm. Approximately six days after the vaccine, he began experiencing chills, muscle aches, and fatigue.
The 46-year-old told ABC 10 he visited a drive-up COVID-19 testing site where he received his positive diagnosis. Experts shared with the news outlet the different factors that could have played into the outcome, despite the nurse being vaccinated against the deadly virus.
“It’s not unexpected at all. If you work through the numbers, this is exactly what we’d expect to happen if someone was exposed,” said Dr. Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist to the news outlet. He continued, “We know from the vaccine clinical trials that it’s going to take about 10 to 14 days for you to start to develop protection from the vaccine.”
Read More: Marco Rubio dragged for Fauci dig after being one of the firsts to get vaccine
theGrio reported Pfizer revealed in November the vaccine developed with BioTech was 95% effective against coronavirus, and it hoped to get emergency use to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“This is an extraordinarily strong protection,” said Dr. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech’s CEO and co-founder, according to the report.
Dr. Ramers informed ABC 10 that he is aware of several incidents where health care professionals test positive for COVID-19 around the same time they receive the vaccine. Beyond the 10-14 day incubation period, Ramers said some doctors and nurses unknowingly already have coronavirus before getting the shot.
He also clarified the vaccination requires two doses for full efficacy. For him, it is proof that mask-wearing, hand washing, and social distancing must continue as the vaccine continues to be administered across the world.
‘That first dose we think gives you somewhere around 50%, and you need that second dose to get up to 95%,” he remarked to the news outlet. “You hear heath practitioners being very optimistic about it being the beginning of the end, but it’s going to be a slow roll, weeks to months as we roll out the vaccine.”
According to theGrio, another element that society must combat with the vaccination rollout is false information spreading across social media. House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff wants social media companies to do more than mark misleading posts with labels.
“Distrust of vaccines has increased with loud voices using the platforms to spread fear,” he said, according to the report. Schiff continued, “enforcement will always be stuck playing catch-up in a system designed to promote the most engaging content and not the most truthful.”
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