TESTIMONY. While vaccination against the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus is very effective in limiting severe forms and the risk of hospitalization, it does not prevent contamination. Even vaccinated, it is possible to get sick from Covid-19 and have typical symptoms (loss of smell …). Three women testify.
While anti-Covid vaccination is very effective in limiting severe forms and the risk of hospitalization, it does not prevent contamination. Even vaccinated, it is possible to get sick from Covid-19, and not only asymptomatically. Yet a positive test in this context always arouses astonishment and a feeling of injustice. Three women testify.
For Manon, 27, getting vaccinated as soon as possible was essential to put an end to the pandemic, but also to protect herself and her future child because she wanted to become pregnant. “I received my two doses of Pfizer vaccine before I got pregnant, the second in mid-July. It reassured me, I didn’t want to take the risk of contracting Covid during my pregnancy and endangering my baby”, confides this Parisian, a school teacher. However, at the start of her 4th month of pregnancy, the young woman began to suffer from” severe headache, cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, then 3 days later, a sudden loss of taste and smell. “I did not realize at all that it was the Covid and I did not think about it at first since I was vaccinated. I was sick for 3 days, persuaded to have sinusitis, until you lose your taste and smell when you come home from school one evening. This symptom put me in the ear, and I had a surge of anxiety. I went to the pharmacy urgently to do an antigen test which turned out positive after 15 minutes “, Manon reports. Misunderstanding took hold of her. “It was most likely at school that I caught the Covid, because several students in my class were sick but were not tested. I have always respected barrier gestures, I wear my mask at all times, I put myself on hydroalcoholic gel fifteen times a day… So, I admit that I was a little distraught when I heard the news… ”.
“We must not lower our vigilance, it can really happen to all of us”
Because even if she knew that it was possible to be infected despite the vaccine, she did not think that she would be symptomatic. Fortunately, her gynecologist quickly reassured her. After seven days of strict isolation, stress and a lot of fatigue, she is regaining her strength. “What I learn from this ordeal is that despite all the measures taken, we must not lower our vigilance, it can really happen to all of us! So take care of yourself, and do not underestimate the first symptoms “, she concludes.
Isabelle, 51-year-old administrative assistant, also knew that being contaminated by covid despite the vaccine was possible. “But, I naively thought that this only happened to others, to those who do not take special precautions to protect themselves “, she admits. Because she scrupulously respects barrier gestures, wearing her mask as soon as she enters an enclosed space and drastically limits her social relations. “What is all the more incomprehensible is that I work from home. So I really do not know where I got the covid!”, she asks herself. And this, especially since” she received her two doses of vaccine, and that she made an appointment for the third one which is scheduled for the end of January 2022. It is by loss of smell, one of the characteristic symptoms of the coronavirus, which Isabelle understood she had. For her, it was immediately obvious. A positive test confirmed his doubts. She then isolated herself with her husband and her son. Fortunately, she was relatively spared in terms of symptoms. “I had a cold and a slight headache, but no temperature. Just the loss of taste and smell. Other than that, I felt good.” What did she take away from this experience? The importance of continuing immunization. “Even if that does not prevent contamination, it reduces it, and it is the only way to get out of this pandemic”, she hammers.
As a health professional, Louise, a 25-year-old nurse practicing in Lyon, was able to get vaccinated almost as soon as the vaccination campaign was launched. on December 27, 2020. She received her two doses, the last one being February 27, 2021. Today, almost ten months later, she contracted covid. “I knew it was possible to catch it despite the vaccine, but as a nurse I really take all measures to protect myself well so in a way, even though I am in contact with the sick, I thought to myself sheltered.” Those are flu-like symptoms (muscle aches, fever, headache, cold), which led her to do an antigen test and then a PCR test which both proved positive. She then isolated herself for 10 days, waiting for it to pass. “This is why it is essential to continue to respect barrier gestures and to be tested at the slightest symptom, even if you have a complete vaccination schedule”, recalls the young woman.
Thanks to Manon, Isabelle and Louise for their testimonials. Interview in November 2021.