California nurse catches COVID-19 a week after getting Pfizer shot

Coronavirus vaccines are now being rolled out in different parts of the world. Just today, UK became the first country to approve Oxford University-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Watch: US nurse passes out after getting Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine

But it turns out that the vaccination regimen is not working out as expected for some. A nurse in California who had received the vaccine a week back recently contracted coronavirus. The 45-year-old nurse from California had received Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine recently, but thereon started to develop symptoms.

Matthew W from California told ABC News affiliate that he works at two different local hospitals, and in a Facebook post claimed that he had received the Pfizer jab on December 18. He told ABC that he suffered no side effects - just soreness at the site of injection.

Also read: EU to buy 100 million more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, taking the total to 300 million

Six days later, he was working in the COVID-19 unit in a hospital. Soon after, he developed symptoms and got sick, which was found to be coronavirus. His symptoms included chills, muscle aches, and fatigue.

Soon after the symptoms appeared, the nurse got tested for COVID-19 at a drive-up testing site in California after Christmas. Following this, he found out that he had got COVID.

An infectious disease expert - Christian Ramers of the Family Health Centers in San Diego told ABC news that this was was not unexpected.

Also read: 8 people aged between 38 and 54 overdosed on Pfizer vaccine in Germany, show flu symptoms

Usually, people are told to exercise precautions for 10-14 days after getting the jab. During this period, it’s possible for them to catch the virus if they come in contact with an infected person.

The first dose is capable of providing only 50 per cent protection. With the second dose, the chances go up to 95 per cent.