Vaccinated man who got Covid-19 says the shot may have saved his life

A South African health-care worker was severely ill with Covid-19 just five weeks after he received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however, he says the shot may have saved his life.

The 56-year-old man who is legally obliged to remain anonymous, said he spent six days in hospital with Covid-19 and pneumonia.

“I felt that I was sort of let down by the vaccine and asked ‘why me?’ I’m pretty fit and healthy, and I’m in the gym four days a week. I felt a bit hard done by,” he said.

“I got the vaccine, I have no comorbidities, so why did I get so sick? You know what, maybe I was just that 15% of the world who was unlucky but, at the same time, I’m actually lucky because I recovered and I think it’s because I had the vaccine.”

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there is a small risk that fully vaccinated people will be infected with Covid-19, this is known as a “breakthrough infection”.

“No vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness in vaccinated people. There will be a small percentage of fully vaccinated people who still get sick, are hospitalised, or die from Covid-19,” read a statement on its website.

The single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine was found in clinical trials to have an efficacy of 85.4% against severe disease and hospitalisation.

The vaccinated health-care worker said he knew that there was a chance he could be infected with the virus but he didn’t think he would be ill to the point of hospitalisation.

“I was the unlucky percentage of the world where I got sick after receiving the vaccine. The vaccine worked on me and it saved my life because if I didn’t have it, I could have been worse. The shot gave me protection, or a certain amount of protection,” he said.

“I was upset when I got Covid-19, even after I was vaccinated, of course I was. In my mind I thought: ’Okay, I’m going to be fine, I’ve been vaccinated and I won’t get infected.’ I just didn’t think I would be in that 15% of people who are unlucky.”

The man received his vaccine on March 22 and tested positive for Covid-19 on May 28. He said he experienced mild symptoms for the first five days after testing positive.

On the sixth day, he used a finger pulse oximeter and noticed early signs of hypoxia.

“When I realised my stats were going down, I took myself to hospital. After some tests and a CT scan, it was confirmed that I had pneumonia ,” he said.

Once he was on the road to recovery, he consulted some experts and conducted blood tests to determine why he fell ill.

“They said to me that I had a breakthrough infection, but I had some antibodies.”

The health-care worker said he was experiencing some lingering Covid-19 symptoms such as a dry cough and fatigue.

“If you are over 60, I would say you should definitely get the vaccine. Because if you are over 60 with a comorbidity, and you get Covid-19, it could be fatal. I would advise people to grab the opportunity.

“I think the government needs to implement the proper rollout and expand it to the whole country as soon as possible,” he said.

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