MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Health officials in Minnesota are looking for positive cases of COVID-19 after someone has been fully vaccinated.
These types of infections are called ‘vaccine breakthrough cases’. The Minnesota Department of Health says it’s important to track positive cases for 14 days or more after a second vaccine. It could help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention better understand the duration of immunity to the vaccines.
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Karla was relieved when her 79-year-old mother, Sharon, received her second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on February 10. Thirteen days later, she tested positive for the virus after feeling unwell.
“I was really worried about her,” said Karla. “She had a sore throat and cough, and I said, ‘Mom, you should get tested for COVID.'”
Within a few days she was feeling fine. New data suggests that people are well protected after their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and are about 95% effective after the second dose, said Kris Ehresmann of MDH.
“The vaccine is 95% effective, which means that, theoretically, out of 100 people vaccinated, there are five who do not have the same level of response to provide protection,” said Ehresmann.
MDH sent an advisory to health care providers this week asking them to find people who test positive for COVID 14 days after completing the second dose, whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic.
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While Sharon’s case isn’t considered a vaccine breakthrough because her positive test came before the two weeks after her second dose, health officials say it’s a reminder to continue to take precautions.
“You still have to mask, you still have to make sure that you socially distance yourself and take into account those risk mitigation measures that we have been talking about over the past year,” said Ehresmann.
Karla says she is grateful that her mother only had mild symptoms.
“It’s possible that if she hadn’t had the vaccine it could have been a whole different story,” she said.
MDH says 14 breakthrough cases of COVID have been confirmed in Minnesota. They were all with health professionals and were only detected because they were routinely tested at work. Also, they all had mild or no symptoms.
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The CDC says even getting the flu vaccine cuts your risk by 40% to 60%.