The rare and unnerving reality of catching COVID after being vaccinated

[riversedge]

The rare and unnerving reality of catching COVID after being vaccinated

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-shock-and-reality-of-catching-covid-after-being-vaccinated


Health Updated on Apr 21, 2021 9:32 AM EDT — Published on Apr 21, 2021 8:00 AM EDT



“I was shocked,” said Hauser. “I thought: ‘What the heck? How did that happen?’ I now tell everyone, including my colleagues, not to let their guard down after the vaccine.”

As more Americans every day are inoculated, a tiny but growing number are contending with the disturbing experience of getting COVID despite having had one shot, or even two.

In data released Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that at least 5,800 people had fallen ill or tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks or more after they completed both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.

A total of about 78 million Americans are now fully vaccinated.

These so-called breakthrough infections occurred among people of all ages. Just over 40% were in people age 60 or older, and 65% occurred in women. Twenty-nine percent of infected people reported no symptoms, but 7% were hospitalized and just over 1%, 74 people, died, according to the CDC.



Public health officials have said breakthrough infections were expected, since manufacturers have warned loudly and often that the vaccines are not 100% protective. The Pfizer and Moderna versions have consistently been shown to be above 90% effective, most recently for at least six months. Studies have also shown they are nearly 100% effective at ensuring that the small fraction of vaccinated patients who do contract the virus will not get severe cases or require hospitalization........................

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[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. No side effects, no problems on my end.

I still mask, wash hands, observe protocols. It is the right things to do.

[Siwsan]

2. I'm double vaccinated and still wearing a mask, hand sanitizing and social distancing.

And I'm still limiting my outings to purchasing necessities. My fear is, there will be no end to maintaining this routine.

[SheltieLover]

4. Of course there won't be an end to it, thanks to mask holes!

Somehow their "freedumb" seems to take over public policy, especially in hellhole red states.

[CANADIANBEAVER69]

3. Well the vaccine is not a cure

I have to remind people I speak with that the vaccine is not a cure. It is to help fight the most severe affects of the virus but doesn't guarantee immunity from Covid.

[Ms. Toad]

19. The goal is far beyond fighting the most severe effects of the virus -

What was tested before emergency approval for use was reduction in severe disease and death.

The goal (and the only way to reach herd immunity) was always to prevent infection. It just wasn't tested prior to emergency approval.

Now that it has been tested, it is becoming clear that it is as effective in preventing infection as it is in limiting the impact of infections.

But no vaccine is 100% effective, so you are correct that it does not guarantee immunity.

[Wingus Dingus]

5. The only thing I want to do again that I consider "risky"

is to eat in restaurants. That was apparently a huge portion of my entertainment in life and man I miss it! I don't go to churches or gyms or bars or indoor gatherings. Have my second shot coming up in a couple days, and after the waiting period, I'm going to start going out to eat again. I've stopped decontaminating most of my groceries finally, just trying to remember to wash my hands after handling them. Will still mask up in stores, still have sanitizer and wipes in my car, still wash my hands like a nut as soon as I get home but I've always done that anyway. If I still get sick, well, I did what I could.

[Arthur_Frain]

9. "If I still get sick, well I did what I could"

This is where we all need to be, and sooner rather than later. If you’ve gotten your vaccinations, if you live in an area where COVID-19 isn’t really on the move, you should be able to go back to living your life normally as much as you can.

There’s a few protocols that we should retain. For my part I hope that washing hands as a ritual receives a renaissance (it will with part of the population).

But I think the masks are going to mostly disappear. I’m one of the people that should have really resisted masking up, as I have a gag reflex that kicks in pretty quickly when something is over my mouth. Of course with the new normal if I travel, mask wear on aircraft and in airports will be de rigeur from here forward. I don’t want to wear one to go to market though, or to the restaurant.

I’m not so much missing restaurants, I cook better than they do generally, and for a lot less $, but it’s nice every now and again to not worry about clean up, and have somebody else do all that prep. So I feel you.

I mourn the gym, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never be back. It’s too much of a place for a super spreader event, and I can get my calories burnt elsewhere.

[Wingus Dingus]

13. I also expect mask wearing will go by the wayside as it heats up this summer,

and probably not come back unless the variants start to punch us really hard next fall/winter--I've seen peak mask wearing in Dec/January and it's been a slow decline ever since in my area. But I don't really have a comfort issue with them, unless it's really hot, so I'll keep it up. I agree with you, we can't keep 2020 levels of vigilance/restrictions up forever, we will start getting back to normal this summer.

[womanofthehills]

27. Eating in an indoor restaurant still sounds dangerous to me.

I would definitely not enjoy my meal looking around to see if anyone looks unwell. So many restaurants now have outdoor patios - why eat indoors?

[Wingus Dingus]

35. I might not super-enjoy my first few times doing it,

especially with what I assume will be a weird/unsafe feeling to take the mask off to eat, but I don't want to give in to fear either. Have to have faith that the vaccine will protect me in unmasked situations at some point.

[carpetbagger]

6. 60,000 new cases every day.

6,000 over a few months for the 10 percent fully vaccinated, sounds like 98.3 pct effective, 90 percent even if my instant calculation is off by a factor of 5.

[Voltaire2]

10. 6000 out of 78,000,000

is about 0.07%

[BornADemocrat]

11. I'm vaccinated, but haven't changed my routine

It's difficult to know the actual effectiveness since we don't know what percent of people who've been vaccinated are exposed to the virus afterwards.

[FakeNoose]

7. The same weird thing happened to my nephew

He's a healthy 16-year-old kid, who has been working as a table server at a high end restaurant. Because he was having frequent contact with the public he qualified for an early vaccination. I fully support this because table servers and waitstaff work in conditions where their customers are sitting at tables and have removed their masks. Waitstaff workers of any age should be bumped to the front of the line for vaccinations for this reason.

But after my nephew received his first shot, less than a week later he started running a fever and feeling mild flu symptoms. He and his dad (my BIL) went to get tested for Covid, and they both tested positive. It was kind of shocking for them, but the possibility remains that my nephew may have been exposed even before he was vaccinated.

Luckily they both had mild symptoms and they are recovering.

[genxlib]

14. This doesn't count as a "breakthrough" case

Because it was less than a week after one does. It takes time to develop the immunity and really takes the second shot to kick it into gear.

This also happened to me. Covid exposure and illness about 5 days after the first shot. Wasn't surprising so much as frustrating after avoiding it for a year. I have actually heard of a bunch of these type scenarios.

Luckily it was a mild case which I think was because of the boost the first does gave me.

I get my second shot today. I figure I will have super immunity when all is said and done.

[Ms. Toad]

21. Breakthrough cases are those that occur 2 weeks or more after the final vaccination. n/t

[TraceNC]

8. I've had my two shots and I'm still double masking

when I go somewhere outside my home where other people will be.

[Raftergirl]

12. I will be fully vaxxed tomorrow

and I will definitely be doing more things than before, but will still wear a mask anywhere I am around people. Fortunately I live in a state with strict mask and social distancing requirements. The only thing I will not do now is go indoors to dine or any indoor place with large crowd. The theatre where we have our series subscription isn’t staring back until next December and hopefully by that time most people will be vaccinated.

[UTUSN]

15. K&R

[malaise]

16. A prominent journalist in Jamaica

who received his vaccine live on TV died on Monday morning from Covid.
He was only 65 but he had a heart condition.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. That sucks. It was nice of his family to allow details released.

If I heard it correctly, he was probably infected prior to or immediately after his vaccination.



My sister-in-law (the nice liberal one not the trumpanzee) got sick within a couple days of receiving the JJ vaccine on 3/15. Her idiot husband played in an Irish band on Saint Patrick day. They both had relatively mild symptoms. Though the last time I talked to her she still had no sense of taste or smell.

[Ms. Toad]

22. That's what it looks like to me, as well.

He was apparently hospitalized (with COVID) 10 days after vaccination.

[malaise]

25. Looks that way

Another person I know also had the virus when she received the vaccine - she's lucky to be alive because she is seriously overweight.

[womanofthehills]

28. You never know..A morbidly obese friend on Facebook

tested positive and was fine two days later. It could also have to do with how many viral particles one is exposed to.

[malaise]

29. Indeed

My friend was in intensive care for two days but was released and sent home

[ibegurpard]

17. I've seen no claims that the vaccine will prevent you from getting it

What it's going to supposedly do is keep you from getting sick. Which is why everyone needs to be vaccinated. Vaccination isn't going to stop the spread.

[qazplm135]

18. Not surprising

The vaccine doesn't stop the virus from entering your body. It stops the virus from building up to something more than a minor annoyance. Just like the flu vaccine each year. You could still get the flu, but it won't send you to the hospital.

[Ms. Toad]

24. It is not like the flu vaccine.

The high failure rate with the flu is because the specific influenza being vaccinated against is just the best guess about what will roll around this year. The influenza vaccine prevents most vaccinated individuals from becoming infected by the specific variety of influenza that is vaccinated against. (i.e., if they guessed correctly - most vaccinated people will not get the flu.) The impact you are talking about is when they guess incorrectly - and the wrong influenza is targeted. Because people have been exposed to a large variation of influenza during their lives (by exposure to flu - or by being vaccinated in prior years - to a wide variety of influenza), lingering antibodies provide some protection against a severe case of influenza.

The COVID 19 vaccine, on the other hand, is targeted to the specific disease we know is circulating (not a best guess, like the influenza vaccine is - by targeting a partcular protein that is common to all variants currently known. The goal is to prevent infection - and based on post-approval testing - for 90-95% of people who have been vaccinated, it is effetive in preventing the virus from causng COVID 19.

[qazplm135]

26. those numbers are based

on pre variants and not done during a time of high case numbers of COVID.

J&J numbers in the 60s are much more likely to be accurate

[Ms. Toad]

31. Nope.

The numbers continue to hold post-variants in places where they are doing follow-up testing to determine whether the mRNA vaccines merely prevent severe disease - or also prevent infection.

J&J is a different kind of vaccine - the other adenovirus vector viruses have similar rates to J&J, when only one shot is used.

[qazplm135]

33. yes thats the point

preventing serious disease. All the vaccines 100 percent prevent serious disease, even against the variants. JJ was tested in the height of summer and with two of the variants active, in fact, a large portion of their testing was done in South Africa and I believe Brazil.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were tested in the Spring, mostly in the US, when things were still, relatively, light.

Thus, you have fewer chances to catch the virus, and if you did, it was almost certainly going to be original recipe.

Meanwhile, JJ was tested during peak transmission times with multiple variants active...thus, it has the 66ish percent numbers, not because "it's a different kind of vaccine," but because test subjects were facing wider opportunities to be infected, and more variants to be infected by.

[Ms. Toad]

34. You are incorrect about the post approval testing.

The first published study testing beyond the prevention of serious disease was in the UK, where the B.1.1.7 variant was first detected (and included data from a nearly 2-month period following the identification of the B.1.1.7 variant), and additional tests are showing the same with later tests in communities (includng in the US) as variants are becoming more prevalent.

J&J is a fundamentally different vaccine, and it (and the others of the same type) are simply less effective - especially with only one dose.

[qazplm135]

36. sorry

but much of that simply isn't true.

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-johnson-johnson-vaccine
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-06/which-covid-vaccine-is-the-best-moderna-pfizer-or-johnson-johnson
https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/02/comparing-the-covid-19-vaccines-developed-by-pfizer-moderna-and-johnson-johnson/

"Because of the difference in the trials, making direct comparisons is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Additionally, Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines were tested before the emergence of troubling new variants in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil. It’s not entirely clear how well they will work against these mutated viruses.

The J&J vaccine was still being tested when the variants were making the rounds. Much of the data generated in the South African arm of the J&J trial involved people who were infected with the variant first seen in South Africa, called B.1.351."

[Ms. Toad]

37. I am expresly talking about trials in the UK

After the emergence and prevalence of at least the B.1.1.7 variant. The study was published more than a month after the articles you are linking to, and at least two additional later studies in the US after variants emerged here.

This is something I have been following very closely, and have consistently been right on, since roughly January 2020.

[qazplm135]

38. The AMA article was yesterday

Going around claiming the JJ vaccine is worse is both dangerous and wrong.

[Ms. Toad]

39. It is a summary of old information.

And says exactly what I've been saying here for weeks about the clotting disorder being confined to the adenovirus vector vaccines (despite the many people here who continue to dispute that, based on a misunderstanding about what two elements constitute the clotting disorder).

Despite your contentions to the contrary, the AMA article does not dispute that the original trials demonstrated the mRNA vaccines are more effective (it merely urges people not to look at the man behind the curtain):

“Don’t get caught up necessarily on the numbers game, because it’s a safe and effective vaccine and what we need is to have as many effective vaccines as possible,” said Dr. Irons. Rather than focusing on efficacy rates, “accept the fact that now you have three highly effective vaccines.”

It is completely silent on at least 3 more recent studies which also report that 90-95% effectiveness both in preventing disease and in the face of variants.

It is neither dangerous nor wrong to report accurate information about the differences between the vaccines. People are entitled to accurate information in order to make informed health care decisions. Whether Dr. Irons cares about the difference in efficacy rates, I do. It is an important factor in deciding which vaccine I chose. It is one thing to decide the efficacy is not important to you. That is perfectly fine. It is another to incorrectly claim they are equally effective, or that the differences are because of variants, when the growing data demonstrates a sustained higher efficacy for the mRNA vaccines.

[qazplm135]

40. Lol

You not only left out relevant parts you basically claim you know more than the AMA.

I'm done, folks hopefully read the links and don't listen to you and avoid the JJ vaccine if it's available or believe that they are immune from the virus or transmission just because they've been vaccinated.

[Ms. Toad]

41. I included the parts relevant to the conversation we have been having.

You were trying to use an article that says nothing about the relative effectiveness of the vaccines (except to say that numbers aren't everything) to prove that J&J is that as effective as the mRNA vaccines. The article simply doesn't say what you imply it says.

And while I would not personally choose the J&J vaccine (and have explained my personal criteria) I have NEVER recommended anyone take, or not take, any specific vaccination - or make their own choice using the same criteria I used.

My advocacy is that people should make informed choices. Making an informed choices requires accurate information, so I counter inaccurate information whenever I see it, regardless of the source.

In fact, I had a relatively heated exchange with someone after the J&J pause, in which I defended people who might want to choose to take the J&J vaccine because they wanted a single shot option. The person I was arguing with insisted that was not a valid reason to choose one vaccine over another.

[womanofthehills]

32. But we now know the African, Indian, Brazilian,etc are circulating

And many scientists out there saying they might escape our current vacs. Why else would Moderna & Pfizer be making a booster that will work better for the African variant?Why isn’t our government checking more for other variants like other countries are doing?

[womanofthehills]

30. But it has sent some to the hospital and some have died

so who knows what’s at play here - maybe its variants or it could be that many who got the shot did not build up good antibodies. After all, the flu shot has a stronger shot for the elderly because many will not make antibodies with a regular dose.

[riversedge]

23. People are shocked. I would also be --even though I know its possible.. #wearadamnMask!!1