OLD MISSION (CBSLA) – Monday marked three weeks since a man from Forest Lake received his second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and one day since he tested positive for COVID-19.
Gary Michael, a Lake Forest man, says he tested positive for COVID-19 weeks after receiving his second dose of vaccine. (CBSLA)
“I got a phone call yesterday from the Orange County Health Department,” Gary Michael said. “They told me, yes, I’m positive with coronavirus and they went through my symptoms and the precautions of what I should do until I was in my forties.”
RELATED: The fight continues amid plans to vaccinate SoCal teachers
Michael received the virus test when he went to Mission Viejo Mission Hospital on Saturday to find an unrelated health problem.
“You may be surprised by this man’s story, this patient’s story, I’m not, and it’s not the first I’ve heard of,” said Dr. Tirso del Junco Jr., chief physician at KPC Health . “I think I’ve heard of six or seven independent cases over the last three weeks of people being vaccinated with different terms that have tested positive and I think we’ll continue to see it more and more.”
RELATED: LA County COVID vaccine, just the best sites delivering second doses this week
These cases are the reasons why doctors like del Junco have urged people to keep their face covers, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not, especially in light of the new variants of COVID-19 that are spreading. in the community.
“We will really understand the effectiveness and timing of these vaccines, number one,” del Junco said. “Number two, as soon as we started the vaccination program, that’s when we started hearing about these mutant strains. We have three aggressive mutant strains now that people keep talking, and that’s been a long time since we started. this vaccination process ”.
As for Michael, he said his living girlfriend tested positive for coronavirus five days after receiving his second dose and said his case was relatively minor.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clinical trials showed that the Pfizer vaccine was “95% effective in preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 disease in people with no evidence of previous infection.”