GREENSBORO, N.C. — Among the thousands of new COVID-19 cases, a few are known as breakthrough cases - when fully vaccinated people still test positive for the virus. It's pretty rare.
Marybeth Bedrosian of Greensboro tells WFMY News 2 she was one of those people. Back in February, she jumped at the opportunity to get her shots. After the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in March, she still followed safety precautions, even wearing a mask in most places until fairly recently.
"I never hesitated. Always wanted [the vaccine] and was glad that I had the opportunity to get it as soon as I did," she said, "The vast majority of people that I spend time with are vaccinated."
However, earlier this month, symptoms began to appear.
"I just thought it was a little tickle in my throat and a cough," Bedrosian said.
But, in the back of her mind, she suspected they could be related to COVID-19 - since she spent some time with unvaccinated people three days prior.
"I knew that they were not vaccinated. I knew that in their family - no one was," she explains, "None of them showed any symptoms at all, but...I found out just through conversation that one of their family members wasn’t feeling well. So that kind of set off a little bit of an alarm in my head.
"When I started to feel bad, it wasn’t horrible. It almost seemed like an allergy kind of a thing. A tickle in my throat, some sneezing. But then as my cold symptoms got worse I thought, maybe I just go ahead and just give myself peace of mind, and go get tested."
She took a test - and got a positive result for COVID-19.
"I was surprised. Once again, knowing that the vaccine...it had been the Pfizer vaccine, was highly effective but not perfect."
Bedrosian describes it as a bad cold, peaking around day five and six, with fatigue, and a little headache. By day 10, she finished quarantine. She said she felt better - and never had a fever.
After having gone through this experience - with a breakthrough case - she tells WFMY News 2 that if her infection proved anything, it's that vaccines work.
"It is definitely, definitely worth it to get the vaccine...The whole point of the vaccine is to keep people from very serious symptoms and hospitalization, and that's exactly what it did for me."
