There are people who reported that days after taking the first COVID-19 vaccine shot they tested positive for the disease. But now, a California man said that he got the disease after receiving the second dose of the vaccine.
Gary Micheal, who lives in Orange County's Lake Forest, found that he got the COVID-19 when he went to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo for an unrelated health issue. According to a report by CBS Los Angeles, his symptoms are relatively minor.
Micheal received his first vaccine dose on December 28 and then the second jab on January 18.
A Rare Case of Coronavirus Infection
Michael said that he got a phone call from the Orange County Health Department and he was told that he got the COVID-19. After checking how aggressive his symptoms were, the healthcare professionals asked him to quarantine. Reports said that his live-in girlfriend tested positive for Coronavirus five days after Michael got the second shot of the vaccine.
A doctor told CBS that he was not surprised to hear about Michael's diagnosis as this is not the first such case. "I think I've heard of six or seven independent cases over the last three weeks of individuals that have been vaccinated with different timelines that have tested positive, and I think we're going to continue to see that more and more," added Dr. Tirso del Junco Jr., chief medical officer of KPC Health.
As per the healthcare experts, these cases of Coronavirus infection are the reason why doctors have been asking people to keep their faces covered even after taking vaccine shots—especially when the new virus variants are spreading across the country. There are many experts who earlier said that even if the world gets the most effective vaccine, people should not stop wearing masks, washing hands and following other safety measures for a while.
Dr del Junco explained that the time has come when experts are going to actually understand the effectiveness of a vaccine and how long it can provide protection. He also said that at the time when vaccines are being administered experts found new mutated versions of novel Coronavirus, which are more aggressive than the first strain of the virus.
In terms of vaccine efficacy, it was found that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy rate of 95 percent, while Moderna's jab is 94.1 percent effective. Both vaccines use messenger RNA (mRNA). According to experts, the current vaccines can provide protection against the COVID-19 variants found in the UK and South Africa. Vaccine manufacturers are now looking into creating booster shots to improve protection against variants.
