In what seems to be an odd event, Matthew W, a nurse in California, USA has been infected by the novel coronavirus just after a week since he took the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Mr. Matthew broke the news in a Facebook post on December 18 stating that he had received the vaccine and had a sore arm with no other side effects. He further added that he felt sick on December 24 after working a shift in the COVID-19 unit which followed by chills, muscle aches and fatigue.
Serving two different local hospitals, Mr. Matthew who is 45 years of age went to a drive-up hospital testing site and was diagnosed COVID-19 positive on 26 December.
Addressing the concerns about the infection post-vaccination, Dr. Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist with Family Health Centers of San Diego, dismissed the need for panic stating that the body needs more time to build up protection once the vaccine has been administered.
Observing the incident as a plausible event, the expert stated that “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.”
Referring to the timeline and the multiple dosages required of the Pfizer vaccine, Dr. Ramers remarked that the “first dose we think gives you somewhere around 50%, and you need that second dose to get up to 95%.”
Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
Developed by US-based pharma giant Pfizer and German drug manufacturer BioNTech, the Pfizer vaccine is among the first authorized cures against the novel coronavirus.
