A California nurse tested positive for COVID-19 just a week after getting the Pfizer vaccine.
The nurse, identified as Matthew W., received the first dose of the vaccine on December 18 and had only mild pain in the arm at the time.
Within six days, the 45-year-old developed chills, muscle aches and fatigue, all of which have been cited as symptoms of the coronavirus, according to a local ABC News station.
Matthew had worked a shift in his hospital’s COVID-19 unit the day he felt ill, and later did a test for the virus, which confirmed he was positive, ABC News reported.
Dr. Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist who works with San Diego Family Health Centers, told ABC’s KGTV that it is not unexpected that someone who has been vaccinated could contract the virus. He explained that it takes some time for the vaccine to develop its protection against COVID-19.
“We know from the clinical trials of vaccines that it will take about 10 to 14 days for you to start developing protection against the vaccine,” Ramers told the news outlet.
Ramers added that the first dose of the vaccine on its own does not provide complete protection against the virus.
“We think that first dose will get you about 50 percent, and you need that second dose to get to 95 percent,” he said.
He went on to explain that it is possible that Matthew had contracted the virus before receiving that first shot on December 18.
Because the coronavirus incubation period lasted almost 14 days, he may not start showing symptoms until after he was already vaccinated, ABC News reported.
“You hear health professionals who are very optimistic about it being the beginning of the end, but it will be a slow roll, weeks to months as we roll out the vaccine,” Ramers said.
The vaccine is slowly starting to roll out in the United States, with many first responders and health professionals receiving it.
Earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris received her first dose of the vaccine and encouraged Americans to get theirs as soon as it becomes available.
“It’s relatively painless. It happens very quickly. It’s safe, ”she said at the time.
“Literally, this is about saving lives,” she added. “I trust the scientists, and it is the scientists who created and approved this vaccine.”