A San Diego County health worker who was completely vaccinated against COVID-19 has 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, medical director of epidemiology and vaccination in San Diego County, said the case was identified in the past two days. The health worker, who was no longer identified, was exposed and had symptoms. One test confirmed the positive result.
McDonald stressed that with vaccines that are approximately 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, there is a possibility that a small group of individuals will get the virus after taking both doses of the vaccine.
“We look forward to more [cases]”McDonald said at Wednesday’s weekly session on COVID-19 disease in San Diego County.” We expect the figure to be low and we expect most cases to be as 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 maximum level of protection against COVID-19 comes 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 his second dose the San Diego health worker became infected.
While some may get COVID-19 after inoculation, people should not be deterred from the vaccine. The CDC adds that even if a fully vaccinated person gets COVID-19, the vaccine can help them get serious. Evidence also shows that there are fewer hospitalizations for COVID-19 among vaccinated individuals.
In the case of San Diego’s first positive vaccine, the health worker showed “minimal symptoms,” according to McDonald’s.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 95% effective and the Modern vaccine 94.1% to prevent COVID-19 disease. But a new factor that is still being studied is the introduction of mutated strains of COVID-19 disease.
There are at least three variant varieties circulating in the United States and California has reported cases related to two of these strains. Most of the mutated cases in California were located in San Diego County, which could be due to the region’s emphasis on genome sequencing locally.
With new variants of COVID-19 in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, doctors are rushing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before more mutations appear. Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, regional director of One Medical, joined LX News to talk about why vaccines are so important right now and how she encourages her patients to overcome their skepticism about it.
Variants appear to propagate more easily and rapidly than the original COVID-19 strain. While the CDC believes the vaccine will also prevent infection by these strains, more research is needed.
San Diego scientists are helping in this research, especially when there are cases between vaccinated people, such as the San Diego health worker.
“We’re examining these cases by looking at them across an entire genome sequence to see what that has to do with vaccines,” McDonald said.
The coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be safe, but some of the temporary side effects may seem quite difficult, especially when this second dose is obtained. Iahn Gonsenhauser, head of patient safety at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, described his own experience with “extreme” fever and chills after his second shot to know what to expect.
However, it is important to note that the vaccine itself will not give someone COVID-19. People have reported some side effects (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) after receiving the shot, but these symptoms are normal signs that the body is boosting immunity to COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Even with the vaccine, there is a possibility that people may be “spreaders” if they are exposed to the virus. These people may not have any symptoms. Therefore, the CDC states that people should continue to distance themselves socially, wear masks, continue to wash their hands, and avoid meetings.
To date, about 5% of the population of San Diego is completely vaccinated against COVID-19. About 17% of the population has had at least their first shot. But with supply issues affecting the availability of appointments, the process of raising the latter statistic is slowing down.