An emergency room doctor who received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine reportedly tested positive for the virus just nine days afterwards, while awaiting his second dose.
After spending months on the front line treating coronavirus patients in Georgia, Josh Mugele received the first dose of the vaccine Dec. 20, according to Business Insider (BI).
“I had three shifts in a row right up to the vaccine date,” Mugele told BI. “I was just really nervous I was going to get exposed before that. I honestly felt really a sense of relief when, on the 20th, I actually was able to get the vaccine, and I thought I’d kind of crossed the finish line.”
Mugele had developed a headache and a cough by Dec. 28, testing positive for coronavirus one day later — nine days after he received his first shot.
“I was scared at first, but more than anything I think I was angry,” he said, according to the report. “I’ve had maximum exposure, as much as any ER doc in the country, and I’ve been spared for 10 months, and then to get it right after I got the vaccine is just stupid and frustrating.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two injections, 21 days apart. When subjects had been given both shots, the vaccine was found to be 95% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. A single dose, however, does not provide as much protection.
Pfizer says there is “no data” to suggest that people are properly protected after just one dose of its vaccine, as U.K. scientists and politicians have said: “The safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedules.” pic.twitter.com/8mSbDeIptp
— Ben Kentish (@BenKentish) December 31, 2020
The efficacy of the first dose is approximately 52%, Dr. William C. Gruber, senior vice president of Pfizer Vaccine Clinical Research and Development, told The New York Times (NYT). “Two doses of vaccine provide maximum protection,” he added. (RELATED: Here’s What You Need To Know About The COVID-19 Vaccines)
Some have expressed lingering doubts as to just how much vaccines will reduce transmissibility.
“I don’t believe we have the evidence on any of the vaccines to be confident that it’s going to prevent people from actually getting the infection and therefore being able to pass it on”, says WHO Chief Scientist @doctorsoumya pic.twitter.com/QdTvzj7Nyd
— Disclose.tv ???? (@disclosetv) December 28, 2020
World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said during a Monday press briefing that “apart from preventing symptomatic disease and severe disease and death,” it is unclear whether the vaccines can “reduce infections or prevent people from getting infected with the virus.”