Lake Forest Man Positive After 2nd Coronavirus Vaccine: Report

LAKE FOREST, CA — Three weeks after a Lake Forest man received his second Pfizer vaccination dose, he got the call that no one wants to hear from the Orange County Health Care Office: he tested positive for coronavirus.

Gary Michael, a Lake Forest resident, assumed he was safe from the virus. He learned he was wrong.

"They told me that yes, I'm positive for coronavirus," Michael told the media. He was advised to quarantine as they went through his litany of symptoms.

It is not known what strain of coronavirus he tested. Michael says his girlfriend tested positive on January 23, less than a week after receiving his second dose of the vaccine.

Michael received his first dose on Dec. 28 and his second on Jan. 18 but was exposed five days after his second shot, he reported. He was tested after visiting Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo for an unrelated medical reason.

Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the Pfizer vaccine is only 95 percent effective, it is unknown what would cause 5 percent to become later infected with the virus. According to Michael, his symptoms are minor, a report by Mercury News states.

Scientists believe that optimal immunity from vaccination against COVID-19 comes two to three weeks after the second dose is received, according to OC Health Care. This would have put Michael in the "still vulnerable" to coronavirus category at the time he was exposed.

Orange County Health Care Agency continues to advise all residents, vaccinated or not, to wash their hands frequently, wear a mask, practice physical distancing outside the home, and avoid gathering with people outside of your family circle.