(Reuters) – A nurse in California tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after getting the vaccine from Pfizer Inc, an ABC News affiliate reported Tuesday bit.ly/2L8iBel, but a medical expert said the body was more takes time to build protection.
Matthew W., 45, a nurse at two different local hospitals, said in a December 18 Facebook post that he had received the Pfizer vaccine, telling the ABC News affiliate that his arm was in pain for a day but that he had suffered no other. side effects.
Six days later, on Christmas Eve, he fell ill after a shift in the COVID-19 unit, the report said. He got the chills and later developed muscle aches and fatigue.
He went to a drive-up hospital testing site and tested positive for COVID-19 the day after Christmas, the report said.
Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist at Family Health Centers in San Diego, told the ABC News partner that this scenario was not unexpected.
“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 said.
“We think that first dose will give you somewhere around 50%, and you need that second dose to get 95%,” Ramers added.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones