A California nurse tested positive for COVID-19 just a week after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
The nurse, identified as Matthew W., received the first dose of the vaccine on December 18 and only felt a slight pain in her arm at the time.
Within six days, the 45-year-old began to experience chills, muscle pain and fatigue, all considered symptoms of the coronavirus, according to a local ABC News station.
Matthew was working a shift at his hospital’s COVID-19 unit on the day he felt sick, and he later tested for the virus that confirmed he was positive, ABC News reported.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Christian Ramers, who works at Family Health Centers in San Diego, told ABC’s KGTV that it is not unexpected that someone who has been vaccinated can contract the virus. He explained that it takes a while for the vaccine to develop its protection against COVID-19.
“We know from clinical trials of the vaccine that it will take about 10 to 14 days for you to start developing vaccine protection,” Ramers told the media.
Ramers added that the first dose of the vaccine does not provide complete protection against the virus alone.
“We believe that the first dose gives something around 50%, and you need the second dose to reach 95%,” he said.
He went on to explain that it is possible that Matthew contracted the virus before receiving his first injection on December 18.
With the coronavirus incubation period lasting almost 14 days, it may not have started showing symptoms before it was already vaccinated, reported ABC News.
“You hear healthcare professionals being very optimistic about this being the beginning of the end, but it will be a slow process, weeks to months as we launch the vaccine,” said Ramers.
The vaccine began to be distributed slowly in the United States, with many first responders and health professionals among the first to receive it.
Earlier this week, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her first dose of the vaccine and encouraged Americans to take hers as soon as it becomes available.
“It is relatively painless. It happens very fast. It’s safe, ”she said at the time.
“Literally, it’s about saving lives,” she added. “I trust the scientists, and it is the scientists who created and approved this vaccine.”