Congressman tests positive for COVID-19 after receiving second dose of vaccine

[DonViejo]

Source: CBS News


BY GRACE SEGERS

JANUARY 30, 2021 / 9:48 AM / CBS NEWS

Congressman Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this month. Lynch is one of several members of Congress who have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks.

A spokesperson for Lynch said in a statement that his positive test result came after a staffer in his Boston office tested positive.

"Congressman Lynch had received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and subsequently received a negative COVID-19 test prior to attending President Biden's Inauguration," said Molly Rose Tarpey, Lynch's communications director. "While Mr. Lynch remains asymptomatic and feels fine, he will self-quarantine and will vote by proxy in Congress during the coming week."

Another member of the Massachusetts House delegation, Congresswoman Lori Trahan, also tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.



Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-lynch-tests-positive-covid-19-after-receiving-second-dose-of-vaccine/

[soothsayer]

1. K, let's see if those antibodies do their thing

[mucifer]

2. We know that can happen. The vaccine is to keep us healthier and out of the hospitals But

it doesn't bode well for heard immunity if when we all are vaccinated we all get it and spread it.

Gotta wait on more research data. The virus is so new.

[northoftheborder]

8. "herd" immunity

[barbtries]

30. 95% is not 100%

it never claimed that anyone who got the vaccine could not get the virus.
5% is 1 out of 20.

[Ilsa]

3. False positive, Maybe? I guess they retested.

I wonder if he contracted the virus before the booster, when efficacy is still lower?

[onetexan]

27. i was thinking the same. I'm glad he's quarantining though.

[lisa58]

4. Vaccines don't stop you from being exposed - I also hope

The antibodies the vaccine challenges your body to make works!

[pnwmom]

5. Which is why they're telling us to continue wearing masks after vaccination. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I am guessing that it would take a couple months

for these vaccines to have the antibody response fully up and running and the time between a first dose and second dose for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, is less than a month.

I know my primary care doc had mentioned similar for the flu vaccine and recommended getting that "later" in the fall so that the body's response was at a peak during the peak of the flu season, which tends to happen between January and March (so preferred to see the shot done some time in November).

[frazzled]

7. Sort of like the old shingles vaccine

Mr. Frazzled and I got it some years ago, and then a year later he got ... shingles. It was explained to us that it was only partially effective, but that if you did get it, it would be a milder case. Indeed it was. Cleared up in a matter of days with medication.

My doctor recently made me get the newer, supposedly more protective vaccine (2 doses). Kind of lays you down for a couple of days each time. Worth it or not? I guess so, but for the couple of days of nausea, muscle aches, etc. I was wondering why I had agreed.

[Rebl2]

9. I guess

the newer shingles vaccine effects everybody differently. My husband had it last fall and he just had a sore arm, minor muscle aches and a little fatigue. He never had nausea though.

[luvtheGWN]

23. Yes.

I've had the two Shingrix shots and only had a sore arm each time. But I know of three others (friends) who dealt with fever and chills and bad headaches.

Since every body is different (which is why a cancer researcher friend said he very much doubted that there would ever be a cancer "cure" that works for everyone and for the over 100 different types of cancer) it's reasonable to assume that our ability to develop antibodies is going to be as varied as our bodies are.

[LeftInTX]

10. Totally different type of vaccine

Shingles is not contagious. Shingles is a re-activation of latent chickenpox infection: zoster can only occur in someone who has previously had chickenpox (varicella).

Most of us are at risk for shingles at any moment. Yet, we can't pass shingles to other people. Exposure to the virus in the blisters can cause chickenpox in someone who has not had it, but will not trigger shingles.


I have no idea how the shingles vaccine works:
From what I read the shingles vaccine is a larger-than-normal dose average dose of chickenpox vaccine. But we've all had chickenpox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoster_vaccine

I had shingles when I was pregnant. Man that was awful.

[Aerator]

12. Shingles is contagious to someone that has never been vaccinated for or had the chickenpox .

[LeftInTX]

14. Yes, but you don't "catch" shingles from shingles. You can catch chickenpox from shingles lesions.

Shingles lives within you 24/7, if you have had chickenpox already.

The immune system eventually eliminates the virus from most locations, but it remains dormant (or latent) in the ganglia adjacent to the spinal cord (called the dorsal root ganglion) or the trigeminal ganglion in the base of the skull.[31]

Eww...

Since the OP has previously received the shingles vaccine, I assume they already had chickenpox.

I had shingles when I was pregnant. I had a 3 year old at the time. Fortunately, he did not catch chickenpox from my shingles. I was incapacitated with shingles and it would have been a nightmare dealing with kid with chickenpox. He did catch chickenpox a few years later.

[callous taoboy]

25. I am just recovering from my second shingles vaccine-

Had the night sweats last night, felt pretty lousy for a day and a half.

[we can do it]

26. Had Shingrix and only had sore arm after both shots.

[ananda]

28. I took the two-dose Shingrix.

My arm really hurt for a week afterward,
but I had no other effects.

T-dap affected me like that -- sore arm.

I hope the new Covid vaccine has no
ill effects either. Fingers crossed. But
I'm not getting it for awhile.

[barbtries]

32. i've had shot number 1 of the pfizer vaccine

and had a sore arm and slept all day off and on the day after i got it.
had a more severe reaction to my shingles vaccine, which was the one shot variety. My arm was so red and swollen and warm I went back to the pharmacy to make sure it wasn't an allergic reaction. it wasn't, and went away after a few days. I may pass on the 2-dose vaccine though, since I'm told that the reaction i had is an indication that my body was working correctly.

[ananda]

38. That sounds good.

A sore swollen arm is nothing compared to Covid.

Good luck!

[LisaL]

41. You being told that your body reacted to the first dose as it was supposed to react, doesn't mean

you can skip the second dose. Pfizer vaccine won't provide full immunity with one dose. At least check with your doctors before making decisions like that.

[barbtries]

42. that was the shingles shot.

i am getting my 2nd covid shot on 07Feb2021

[NBachers]

36. I got one Shingrix vaccine last January, & my arm hasn't stopped being sore. They told me to forego

the second one; my doctor told me last week it may just be arthritis in my shoulder. But, I never had this problem before the shot.

Not trying to discourage people; I had to bother the med staff because it took a long time for them to get it. A free shot, and Shingles immunity, is good.

[frazzled]

37. Of all the symptoms I had

the sore arm was the least of it. After the first shot, my arm was plenty sore for about 3 days; for a while, I couldn’t even lift it above waist level. But the flu-like symptoms, about which I had been forewarned, were kind of worse.

For the second shot, I started applying an ice pack as soon as I got home, 20 minutes every hour for maybe 3 hours. Minor soreness this time, and it dissipated quicker. Maybe it was just luck, but I think the ice helped. The fluishness was still kind of bad though.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s the skill of the technician at hitting the right spot (not directly into muscle?) that’s the answer to the degree of soreness. I have no idea. I just grin and bear these things. Sorry you are still suffering.

[LovingA2andMI]

11. So this positive test seems to be....

Well over 14 days AFTER taking the 2nd dose. Interesting...

[LisaL]

17. Vaccine is 95% effective in preventing symptoms.

He is asymptomatic (at least so far).

[yaesu]

13. if I'm not mistaken the vaccines don't stop you from getting it they just keep you from getting

moderate, major symptoms.

[LiberalArkie]

21. They say it is highly effective in keeping a person from having so bad that the person

has to be admitted to the hospital and dying.

[colsohlibgal]

15. Odd

I don’t recall any limits on other vaccines when I was younger, you got the shot you didn’t contract Polio. Measles, whatever.

But if this is the case getting it and not getting seriously ill or dying is better than nothing.

Whatever like many I can’t wait to get back to some kind of normal, this is getting tiresome and the main culprit is Trump....if he had taken it seriously at the beginning we would not be where we are now. Dastardly and Stupid is what we had in the White House And here we are.

[crimycarny]

31. Polio vaccines don't prevent infection, they prevent disease

I didn’t realize that many vaccines—including the polio vacc8ne—don’t prevent infection for whatever virus they are designed for, but they prevent the disease. Vaccines that prevent infection are called “sterilizing vaccines” and I guess those aren’t many. I had no idea.

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-few-vaccines-prevent-infection-heres-why-thats-not-a-problem-152204

[BobTheSubgenius]

16. Other than continue appropriate precautions, which should have been hammered home long before now,

I'm not really sure what the takeaway from this article should be. The vaccine works, if doesn't work, we have hope for it, but we need to wait and see?

Also, I would be pretty worried about Rep. Lynch's overall prognosis if he became symptomatic. He does not look particularly robust in that picture.

[Mr.Bill]

18. We'll hear other stories like this as time goes on.

There's a simple explanation. Neither the Vaccination or the tests are 100%.

[Roc2020]

19. Uncomfortable truth maybe is

These vaccines were rushed and they probably have a very short defense against the virus if any at all.

[deurbano]

20. This confirms that after getting the vaccine we still need to be very careful to avoid getting

infected and then transmitting it to others who have yet to be vaccinated. I believe I read that no one vaccinated in the trials subsequently died or was hospitalized from COVID, even after the first dose, but as far as I know, we don't yet know how exposure to a vaccinated but positive-testing person affects the unvaccinated. Are the vaccinated less infectious? (I did hear some expert say maybe 50% less infectious, at least, but again, this is new, so...) Are the harmful effects somewhat mitigated if an unvaccinated person does catch the virus from a vaccinated person? Of course, with the variants emerging, it seems we will soon need the new booster shots even for the vaccinated.

This is more than theoretical for me. Our most vulnerable family member--my older, adult daughter, who is disabled and lives with us-- is not yet in a category to get vaccinated, but a CA state directive designates her immediate family members (including my 18-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son, both currently at home, attending college remotely) as healthcare workers who qualify for Phase 1 of vaccine distribution, and we have all received our first doses. The whole point of that state directive is to keep the vulnerable member safe until the immunization effort can address the logistical challenges of vaccinating people with disabilities living in non-congregate settings. (That's a lot of people in CA.) But for that to be successful, vaccines need to slow down transmission between the vaccinated to unvaccinated, or at least make any subsequent infection less serious. (So, crossing fingers and everything else for that...)

My son got his first dose last night, and I scheduled it as late as possible. My husband was able to get his first shot two weeks ago, which was a week and a half earlier than scheduled, when doses (that would expire) were left over when I was getting my first shot at the end of the day. (He was waiting in the car and ran up when we learned he could have one of the remaining shots.) I was hoping there might be some left over again (at the end of the day), so my husband and older daughter waited in the van in the parking lot while my son got his shot and also asked if there were any leftovers. My plan actually seemed to work, and she was 90 seconds from having the shot in her arm, when the person it was intended for arrived, after having accidentally waited in the wrong area for an hour and a half. So close! I had felt SUCH relief when they texted me she was about to get it. (Damn... but also good the intended person made it in time.)

[mackdaddy]

22. If the virus can survive on a stainless steel surface for hours, why not in the airways of a person?

Yes the virus would not be likely to cause illness symptoms in that person, but the virus may be on the surface of that persons airways,and even replicating until the immune system eventually eliminates it.

But in the mean time the person would test positive on a nasal swab test, and could even spread the virus when they breath out.

This is one reason that we need to keep masking up.

[C Moon]

24. You can still carry the virus after getting the vaccine.

That’s why you need to continue mask wearing even after vaccinated—to protect others.

[Tommymac]

29. You can still be an asymptomatic carrier after being vaccinated.

At least that is what my wife told me. She works in a hospital setting and that is what they told her.

I know - hearsay, so take it for what it is worth.

Me, I'll err on the side of safety. My wife has been vaccinated and she is still following all protocols.

[crimycarny]

33. MANY common vaccines protect against disease but NOT infection, including polio vaccine

I didn’t realize this until today when I saw the article about Stephen Lynch testing positive. I thought vaccines prevented you from getting infected, period, but apparently that is not true for many vaccines. Good news is that the COVID 19 vaccine should prevent severe disease, bad news is vaccinated people can still pass on the virus. One more reason we need to find a strong antiviral for COVID. Two pronged approach.

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-few-vaccines-prevent-infection-heres-why-thats-not-a-problem-152204

[NurseJackie]

34. Horrible headline writing! It gives the impression that the two things are related.

Congressman tests positive for COVID-19 after receiving second dose of vaccine can be easily interpreted by dumb people as meaning "Congressman tests positive for COVID-19 AS A RESULT OF receiving second dose of vaccine"

[DeminPennswoods]

35. PCR test is a double-edged sword

It can detect minute traces of covid19, but cannot tell if that positive is a result of an inert virus remnant, a live virus that can infect others or something in between or how much virus a person has in their system.

[Warpy]

39. If he remains asymptomatic, the vaccine is doing its job

Infection after vaccination happens all the time. Vaccination just means our immune systems are prepared and will go into action to knock the infection down before we know we have it.

However, it's a reminder that even after vaccination, we'll have to keep wearing our masks to protect other people until enough of us are vaccinated to make a difference.

It aint over yet, folks.