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Robert Coy has been fully vaccinated for months and was ready to enjoy a vacation with friends after more than a year of uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was one of those things where, you know, we were going out now in places then, maybe for a week or two, but we were able to take off the masks, join the company, the guidelines. of the CDC kept slacking off and more and more cowardly, “Coy told NBC Chicago. “So I signed up to go [on a trip], sounded like a great idea after mostly, you know, a year and a half of what we’ve all been through together. ”
So Coy and five other friends traveled to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where they had a memorable vacation.
“We were able to go out, have a great time, make a lot of new friends and we had a really great trip,” he said.
But when they returned, things changed.
“On Sunday evening, all of a sudden, text messages started pouring in saying that people who had been fully vaccinated as much as I had tested positive for COVID,” he said, including several members of his group. ‘friends.
So on Monday Coy had his own test. Positive.
The group began to send messages to others about their trip to warn them.
“It was like that crazy SMS influx and it was checking with people who like if you had a way to contact people who might have been in another city or someone who would check in and say, ‘Hey, Did that happen in your band too? ‘”he said.” It was everywhere. It was really shocking that with the number of people who, you know, also said, “We’ve been vaccinated, we’ve been vaccinated for months,” that a lot of people have tested positive. ”
For Coy and many of his friends, the symptoms were mild, which he attributes to the vaccine.
“It’s like a really bad cold,” he said. “You might have a bit of a cough, and you’ll just feel tired and it’s not fun, but I’ll say it’s definitely a lot less severe than I expected. If I had had it. that last year before they were vaccinated … I’ve seen people live well, well, much, much worse. ”
Coy and his friends are not alone.
Also on Sunday, officials announced plans to increase testing in Provincetown due to a recent spike in cases, particularly involving fully vaccinated people.
“The positive cases have been identified in people with mild respiratory symptoms and have been tested for COVID-19,” CEO Alex Morse wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “Overwhelmingly, those affected have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The moderate intensity of symptoms indicates that the vaccines are working as expected. ”
Morse noted that Provincetown has some of the highest vaccination rates in the Commonwealth, but he encouraged anyone not yet vaccinated to reconsider their decision.
“Health officials expect to continue to see a low level of positive cases throughout the summer in a community such as Provincetown with a seasonal population of around 60,000,” he wrote. . “As we enter a new phase of life with the virus, vaccination remains our best defense in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. ”
Although cases of breakthrough were considered rare, they are possible. Experts have said that while the vaccine itself cannot give you the virus, it is also not 100% effective at preventing the virus entirely, although those who receive the vaccine are much less likely to get the virus. be hospitalized or die from it, according to the data.
Just over 2% of COVID-19 deaths in Illinois so far this year have been among fully vaccinated residents, according to state health officials.
A total of 151 people in Illinois have died from COVID-19 or complications after being fully immunized, according to data updated Wednesday by the Illinois Department of Public Health. That figure equates to 2.2% of deaths from COVID-19 in the state since Jan. 1, officials said.
At least 563 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized in Illinois, the IDPH said. The state only reports breakthrough infections among those who have been hospitalized or have died, the IDPH said.
The Chicago Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment on groundbreaking cases in the city, but the head of the city’s health department said in early May that the infection rate after the vaccination was weak.
Illinois’ top doctor said on Tuesday the groundbreaking cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated residents are a “unicorn.”
“These vaccines are really effective,” said IDPH director Dr Ngozi Ezike. “You know, everyone has heard of a case or two of someone who has had an infection or an emergency hospitalization, but it’s, so far, the unicorn, that you need to focus on. of the people who are not vaccinated, they are the ones who fill the hospital as COVID patients. “
A recent spate of COVID-19 cases in parts of Illinois has been found in areas with low vaccination rates, Ezike said.
“There is a very clear link between where these case rates are increasing the fastest and how that area is vaccinated, ie the most vaccinated areas have lower case rates.” , she said.
She noted that the growing delta variant has higher transmissibility which affects more people at a time than the previous variants. Within weeks, Ezike said Illinois had seen COVID cases double statewide.
For the latest COVID measurements in Illinois, click here.
As the delta variant continues to spread, experts continue to push for more Americans to get vaccinated against COVID. All three vaccines currently cleared for emergency use by the FDA have been shown to be broadly effective in preventing serious illness and death from COVID, and all three companies say their vaccines show promise in preventing these results with the delta variant. as well.
Yet U.S. health officials have yet to request a booster of any of the vaccines.
“We are ready to receive booster doses if and when science shows they are needed,” the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint statement last week.
The agencies said those who are vaccinated are protected against the variants, including the burgeoning Delta variant. But they urged Americans 12 and older who haven’t been vaccinated to do so.
Coy warned others that “the pandemic is still ongoing.”
“It’s still possible to get it even with the vaccination and it doesn’t look like it could really be related to any of the specific vaccines,” he said.
For Coy, having a breakthrough case didn’t change his ideas about the vaccine.
“If this is the worst I have to face, the vaccine was definitely worth it,” he said.
Coy said he plans to continue to follow public health advice and will receive a booster if it becomes necessary.
“I’ll be the first in line,” he said. “If there’s a way to protect us more or at least keep us where we are, I’ll be there.”
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