Louisville woman gets COVID again after being fully vaccinated

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - What are the chances of getting COVID after being fully vaccinated?

Though the chances are low, it can happen. It did to one Louisville woman.

The first time Sarah Korcz got COVID was around Thanksgiving. She didn’t have any symptoms.

“I guess we got really lucky that time,” Korcz said.

When Korcz became eligible, she jumped on the chance and got the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in April.

“We relaxed a little bit and were comfortable hanging out with our friends,” Korcz said.

Korcz recently went on a business trip. Some people she was around said they weren’t vaccinated and ended up testing positive for the coronavirus. A few days later, Korcz wasn’t feeling very well. She was achy, had breathing issues, a bad headache, dizzy, and stuffy nose. She was hoping it was just allergies and fatigue but, got tested to be safe. Seeing POSITIVE on her test results shocked her.

“Everyone I have told has said how, what, what happened?,” Korcz said.

According to the CDC, a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated will still get COVID if they are exposed to the virus. They are called “vaccine breakthrough cases.”

“No vaccine is 100 percent,” Dr. Mark Burns from UofL Health said. “It is possible, even for a fully vaccinated person, to get sick or hospitalized, or potentially die from COVID.”

According to the CDC as of late April, more than 10,000 COVID vaccine breakthrough infections have been reported, 27% were asymptomatic, 10% had to be hospitalized.

2% died.

The important thing to keep in mind, according to Dr. Burns, is the number of COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that will be prevented among vaccinated people will far exceed the number of breakthrough cases. The only way to stop breakthrough cases is that everyone has to get the vaccine.

For Korcz, she’s got a few more days of isolation and is feeling better and has no regrets about the vaccine.

“I would do it 100 more times and hopefully it will work for me the next time,” Korcz said. “It’s worked for everyone else I know.”

For more information on vaccine breakthrough cases. click here.

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