A health worker in San Diego County who was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 contracted the disease, the first known case of its kind in the region. But public health officials do not want the case to be a cause for alarm.
Dr. Eric McDonald, San Diego County’s medical director of epidemiology and immunization, said the case had been identified in recent days. The health professional, who was not identified later, was exposed and had symptoms. A test then confirmed the positive result.
McDonald emphasized that – with vaccines that are about 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection – there is a possibility that a small group of individuals will contract the virus after taking both doses of the vaccine.
“We expect more [cases]”McDonald said at Wednesday’s weekly briefing on COVID-19 in San Diego County.” We expect the number to be low and we expect most cases to be like the one just reported. ”
Steven Luke of NBC 7 shares what you need to know in San Diego County on the morning of February 18, 2021.
The highest level of protection against COVID-19 occurs about two weeks after a person receives their second dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is unclear how long after receiving the second dose the health professional in San Diego became infected.
Although some may obtain COVID-19 after inoculation, people should not be prevented from getting the vaccine. The CDC adds that even if a fully vaccinated individual contracts COVID-19, the vaccine can help them not to become seriously ill. Evidence also shows that there are fewer hospitalizations for COVID-19 among vaccinated individuals.
In the case of the first positive vaccination in San Diego, the health professional showed “minimal symptoms”, according to McDonald.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 95% effective and the Modern vaccine is 94.1% effective in preventing COVID-19 disease. But a new factor that is still being studied is the introduction of mutant strains of COVID-19 disease.
There are at least three variant strains circulating in the United States and California has reported cases involving two of these strains. Most of California’s mutant cases were located in San Diego County, which may be due to the region’s emphasis on genome sequencing at the local level.
With new variants of COVID-19 from the UK, South Africa and Brazil spreading, doctors are rushing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before more mutations emerge. Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, regional director of One Medical, joined LX News to talk about why vaccines are so important at the moment and how it encourages patients to overcome their skepticism about it.
The variants appear to spread more easily and quickly than the original COVID-19 strain. Although the CDC believes that the vaccine will prevent infection from these strains as well, more research is needed.
San Diego scientists are helping with this research, especially when cases arise among vaccinated individuals, such as the San Diego healthcare professional.
“We are looking at these cases through a complete genome sequence to see what this has to do with vaccines,” said McDonald.
The coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be safe, but some of the temporary side effects can seem quite serious – especially when you receive your second dose. Iahn Gonsenhauser, director of patient safety at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, described his own experience with “extreme” fever and chills after his second injection so you know what to expect.
It is important to note, however, that the vaccine itself will not give COVID-19 to anyone. People reported some side effects – such as fever, chills, tiredness and headache – after receiving the injection, but these symptoms are normal signs that the body is increasing immunity to COVID-19, the CDC said.
Even with the vaccine, there is a possibility that people will “spread” if exposed to the virus. These individuals may have no symptoms. Therefore, the CDC says that people should still distance themselves socially, wear masks, continue to wash their hands and avoid meetings.
So far, about 5% of the San Diego population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. About 17% of the population has already given at least the first chance. But with supply problems affecting the availability of commitments, the process of collecting the latter statistic is slowing down.