In Illinois, vaccinations take place every day to save lives and contain the pandemic, but there is a chance that fully vaccinated people could still get a positive COVID-19 test.
The Illinois Department of Public Health told NBC 5 that it is tracking cases of individuals who have been vaccinated and test positive for COVID-19. According to IDPH, 217 of the more than 1.6 million fully vaccinated people reported a positive test more than two weeks after their last vaccination dose.
Ariel Silver of Northbrook, a sales manager for a medical device company, said she received her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-January and tested positive for COVID-19 in early March.
“After being fully vaccinated for six weeks and then having a positive COVID test, I was shocked,” said Silver.
Silver said her two young daughters tested positive in late February, and she started feeling nauseous shortly after.
“It hit me hard,” she said. “I’ve read that when someone who has been vaccinated gets COVID, they are usually very mild symptoms. But for two days my symptoms weren’t mild at all. I was in bed, very sick. “
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the vaccine will help you get seriously ill even if you get COVID.
“We shouldn’t be surprised that some people still get infected, especially if they are at high risk, such as exposure to a household, but what we shouldn’t expect are serious infections because we know the vaccines were very protective against hospitalization Said Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, medical director and infectious disease control and prevention specialist at Edward Hospital.
Silver said she and her daughters are feeling normal again.
She said she fully supports people who are getting vaccinated and wants to spread awareness that what happened to her can happen to other people as well.
“I could only imagine not getting the vaccine and getting COVID and how much worse it would be,” said Silver. “I feel like it protected me from hospitalization and God forbid death.”