‘You’re not in the clear with vaccines’: US lawmaker says she’s Covid-positive after 2 doses of Pfizer

Alma Hernandez said she had taken both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine 11 weeks ago. Even then, she continued to take all precautions, wearing a mask, washing her hands, and practicing social distancing. “Yet despite those measures and being vaccinated I have come down with the Covid,” the lawmaker from Phoenix, Arizona tweeted.

Hernandez shared that she tested positive for Covid-19, and that her symptoms include fever, “horrible migraine,” and loss of sense of smell and taste. “Just because you’re vaccinated it does not mean you’re in the clear,” she said, warning that “despite wide availability of vaccines,” the pandemic is still here.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance for US citizens, suggesting that people who are vaccinated don’t need to wear a mask in the streets, and can attend small outdoor gatherings without their faces being covered, as well as dining in outdoor restaurants with friends from multiple households.

Reacting to the lawmaker’s statement, other social media users said that they also contracted Covid-19 weeks after vaccination. However, they said they experienced milder symptoms thanks to the previous shots and avoided hospitalization.

High-profile cases of being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus even after vaccination have been reported previously. Former Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra and his wife controversially enrolled in a clinical trial of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, and both tested positive for Covid-19 weeks afterwards. Argentine leader Alberto Fernandez was also infected despite vaccination with Russia’s Sputnik V. Researchers have said that while the vaccines do not guarantee 100% protection from the virus, they can ease the symptoms and speed up recovery.

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