LAS VEGAS (KGO) – The highly contagious Delta variant is causing coronavirus cases to increase across the country, including among people who have been vaccinated.
Health officials are starting to see a shift in the number of groundbreaking COVID-19 cases, but say the vaccine is still the best defense against the virus.
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In June, after more than a year of pandemic stress, Sean Fruit and his wife decided to go to Vegas. They were fully vaccinated and even drove to avoid planes, but when they got there …
“I took the option of taking my mask off, and now that I look back on it, it’s probably a bad idea,” said Fruit.
When they got home in Hollister, San Benito County, Sean got sick. He and his wife tested positive for COVID-19.
“It was extremely frustrating because we had just spent a year and a half avoiding this thing and it was scary. I mean, I brought home the life-threatening disease that was killing people all over the country, “explained Fruit, who added,” The only thing worse is knowing that I gave it to my children. “
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Too young to be vaccinated, her seven- and nine-year-old children had traffic jams and a low temperature. But Sean, who has a history of sinus infections, was sick in bed.
“I’ve never felt so much pain in my head in my life. Based on my medical history, I’m pretty confident that if I hadn’t had the vaccination flare I might not be standing here talking to you.” said.
Sean and his family are fine now, but they are part of a changing pattern in groundbreaking COVID cases.
Of nine COVID patients at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital last week, two were vaccinated.
Out of 13 COVID patients in Marin hospitals, two are also fully vaccinated.
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“Right now, we are about one in five of our cases among people who are vaccinated, up from around one in ten before,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Health Officer. “Apparently there is concern that the vaccine against the Delta variant may not be quite as effective.”
Willis says the vaccinated patients at Marin Hospital are older and have underlying diseases; He also says they are fine compared to unvaccinated patients.
“This is not an indictment of the vaccine’s effectiveness, but I think it is a reminder to us that these variants are real, they pose a risk to us, and our best line of defense is still to get this vaccine.”
Sean would get the vaccine again, but says he would do something differently when it came to his mask: “Even if I can take it off, I shouldn’t have taken it off.”
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