JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — While more than 2.4 million Hoosiers have received the COVID-19 vaccine, some are still testing positive for the virus — even after the shot.
Kevin Fletcher is one of the 0.05% of Hoosiers catching COVID-19 post-vaccine. Despite his diagnosis, Fletcher said his breakthrough case has not impacted his trust in the vaccine.
Weeks after receiving the Johnson & Johnson shot April 5, Fletcher said he noticed what he assumed were allergy symptoms. Then, more common COVID-19 symptoms showed up.
"I had an elevated temperature of 99.9, some body aches, and so my wife was like, 'OK I know we are vaccinated, but maybe we should go get tested,'" Fletcher said.
The two headed to CVS for a test, learning that what Fletcher was feeling was COVID-19 symptoms. He had not heard of anyone else getting the virus post-vaccine, but said she was not too surprised by the result.
"When it happened to us, we were like OK this could be worse if we hadn't been vaccinated," Fletcher said.
Indiana just started reporting its breakthrough cases, listing 1,193 cases in the more than 2 million Hoosiers vaccinated. Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said when looking at the data, it is important to look at the bigger picture.
"If you say there has been 1,000 breakthrough cases, that sounds like a lot until you realize that there have been over 2.4 million people," Yazel said.
Clark County has had 37 breakthrough cases since vaccinations started, and Yazel said no one with a breakthrough case has been hospitalized. Though Fletcher had some symptoms, he said they were not nearly as bad as what has been reported.
The CDC reported about 30% of COVID-19 breakthrough patients show no symptoms and fewer than 400 fully vaccinated Americans have been hospitalized.
Yazel said getting the vaccine is still the most effective way to prevent COVID-19 and its deadly symptoms.
"We are talking 27 breakthrough cases out of 45,000 [vaccinated] people in our county," Yazel said. "That shows you it works and it works well."
Kentucky does not currently release breakthrough cases as part of its daily COVID-19 report, though the CDC did report breakthrough cases in an outbreak of a rare virus variant at one nursing home in April.
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