US Nurse Tests Positive for Coronavirus 8 Days After Receiving Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 Vaccine: Report
A male nurse from San Diego in US state California has tested positive for coronavirus eight days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
California, December 30: A male nurse from San Diego in US state California has tested positive for coronavirus eight days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in collaboration with German biotech company BioNTech. Matthew W, a nurse at two different local hospitals received the Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine on December 18, according to his social media post. Margaret Keenan, Who Was World's First Patient to Get Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Receives Her Second Jab.
After receiving the vaccine, Matthew's arm was sore for a day but he had suffered no other side-effects, according to a report by an ABC News affiliate. Six days later, he fell sick. The ABC News affiliate reported that he got the chills followed by muscle aches and fatigue. A day after Christmas, he tested positive for coronavirus, the report added. His condition is said to be stable since his symptoms peaked on Christmas Day. AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Approved for Use in UK, Regulatory Approval in India Awaited.
Speaking to the ABC News affiliate, Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist with Family Health Centers of San Diego, said that what had happened with Matthew was not unexpected. "It's not unexpected at all. If you work through the numbers, this is exactly what we’d expect to happen if someone was exposed," he said, adding that he is not ruling out the possibility that Matthew was infected before receiving the vaccine.
"We know from the vaccine clinical trials that it's going to take about 10 to 14 days for you to start to develop protection from the vaccine. That first dose we think gives you somewhere around 50%, and you need that second dose to get up to 95%," Ramers was further quoted as saying. The US has approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 30, 2020 03:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).