(Reuters) – A California nurse tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving the Pfizer Inc vaccine, an ABC News affiliate said on Tuesday bit.ly/2L8iBel, but a medical expert said that the body needs more time to accumulate protection.
Matthew W., 45, a nurse at two different local hospitals, said in a December 18 Facebook post that he received the Pfizer vaccine, telling ABC News affiliate that his arm is painful one day. but that he suffered no other side effects.
Six days later, on Christmas Eve, he fell ill after working in a shift in the COVID-19 unit, the report added. He shivered and later came down with muscle aches and fatigue.
He went to a hospital test 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 ABC News that this scenario was not unexpected.
“We know from clinical trials about the vaccine that it will take about 10 to 14 days for you to start developing protection against the vaccine,” Ramers said.
“We think this first dose gives you somewhere around 50% and you need the second dose to get to 95%,” Ramers added.
Reporting of Kanishka Singh and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Montage by Gareth Jones