A New York woman came down with a case of COVID-19 more than a month after receiving both doses of the Moderna vaccine.
“You can still get it. You can probably still spread it,” said Melanie Rosen, who contracted the virus after being fully vaccinated. “I want people to know it’s not over.”
Rosen started feeling symptoms of the virus shortly after attending a wake for a friend’s father. She went to the wake unmasked, reasoning that she believed it was OK to resume normal activities after receiving both doses of the vaccine.
“There was probably at least 10 family members there,” Rosen said. “I hung out for about an hour and a half without wearing a mask. I hugged each one.”
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Rosen began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, including a stuffy nose and body aches, a few days after the wake, and she later learned that three family members who were in attendance had since tested positive for COVID-19.
“I was shocked,” Rosen said. “I’m [in] the 4.9% that got Moderna and actually got COVID.”
But experts stress that none of the vaccines currently approved for use in the United States offer 100% protection from the virus, and scientists continue to study how effective the vaccines are at preventing the spread of infection. Despite some unknowns, experts believe the vaccines have proven effective at preventing severe illness from contracting COVID-19. As more evidence accumulates, scientists believe data will show the vaccines are highly effective at preventing infection and transmission.
“The experts are saying that the vaccines do not reduce transmission, but that is an inaccurate statement,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and the associate division chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Vaccines have always decreased transmission. What they should be saying is that the clinical trials were not designed to test for asymptomatic infection, but there is every biological reason in the world to believe that they will reduce asymptomatic transmission.”
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Rosen said she was still thankful for having received the vaccine when she did, noting that she only had a mild case of COVID-19 and that the vaccine likely helped prevent a more severe illness.
