- After receiving two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Massachusetts representative Stephen Lynch tested positive for the coronavirus, his spokesman told Business Insider.
- “As long as Mr. Lynch remains asymptomatic and feeling well, he will be quarantined and will vote by proxy in Congress over the next week,” said his spokesman.
- It usually takes a few weeks to develop immunity to the coronavirus after vaccination.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Massachusetts deputy Stephen Lynch tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday after receiving two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to his spokesman.
“The US representative, Stephen F. Lynch, received a positive test result for COVID-19 after a member of staff at the congressman’s Boston office tested positive earlier in the week,” said Molly Rose Tarpey, director of communications for Lynch, in a statement to Business Insider.
“As long as Mr. Lynch remains asymptomatic and feeling well, he will be quarantined and will vote by proxy in Congress for the next week,” she said, adding, “Congressman Lynch received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and later received a negative COVID-19 test before participating in President Biden’s inauguration, “which took place on January 20.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it may take a few weeks for the body to develop immunity to coronavirus after vaccination.
“This means that it is possible for a person to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 before or shortly after vaccination and still be sick,” said the agency. “This is because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is two doses administered 21 days apart. Pfizer said its vaccine is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 seven days after the second injection.
‘Stupid luck’
One vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
Vincent Kalut / Photonews via Getty Images
It is also possible to hire COVID-19 during the period between the first and the second shot.
Another Massachusetts lawmaker, Lori Trahan, tested positive for the coronavirus this week after receiving her first dose of the vaccine. Trahan had his first chance last week, one of his spokesmen told The Washington Post on Saturday.
COVID-19 vaccines contain small fragments of genetic material that teach your immune system to fight the coronavirus by developing anti-virus antibodies. These pieces of messenger RNA cannot make you sick with COVID-19, but it does take some time for them to do their job. The Pfizer vaccine, for example, is only 52% effective in preventing COVID-19 after the first dose.
That is why it is essential that people continue to wear masks during the interval between doses and in the weeks after the second dose.
Josh Mugele.
Josh Mugele
A doctor who contracted the coronavirus after receiving the first dose of the vaccine, Josh Mugele, said his infection was not a sign that the vaccine did not work.
“It was pure luck,” Mugele previously told Insider. “It turns out that I was exposed a few days after receiving the vaccine, but this is still the best tool we have to fight the virus.”
As an emergency room doctor, Mugele also had a higher risk of infection than many Americans, especially since his hospital was filling up with coronavirus patients.
More than 26 million people in the United States have contracted the coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University; more than 440,000 Americans died.
Aria Bendix, Andrea Michelson and Anna Medaris Miller contributed to the account of this story.