(Newser)
– Six days after a San Diego emergency room nurse was vaccinated for COVID-19, he fell ill and the test was positive for coronavirus. But while the story may seem alarming, health officials say that cases like this are expected and are not a cause for panic. The 45-year-old man received the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two doses three weeks apart, on December 18 and started feeling bad on Christmas Eve. There is more than one possible explanation, reports ABC News: he may have already been infected when he was vaccinated, as the incubation period can last up to two weeks, or he may have been infected after receiving the vaccine.
“We know from clinical vaccine tests that it will take about 10 to 14 days for you to start developing vaccine protection,” said an infectious disease expert. And after the first dose, it is believed that this protection reaches about 50% – it can reach 95% after the second dose. The specialist adds that he knows other health professionals who were infected at the time they were vaccinated. As for the nurse in question, 10 News reports that his symptoms peaked at Christmas and he tested positive at a test site the next day; he says he’s been feeling better ever since, but he still feels fatigue. (Read more coronavirus stories.)