KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A mom is urging people to be vigilant about COVID-19 after she caught the virus months after being vaccinated.
Carrie Gill said she and her 6-year-old daughter have had COVID-19 for a week.
Gill said her symptoms included stomach cramps, a sinus infection, and loss of taste and smell.
She said her daughter's symptoms were more intense.
"She had high fevers we couldn’t control. She had very bad congestion and stomach cramps that made her cry, which was very sad," Gill said. "She bounced back, though. She’s feeling better."
The infection was a first for the mom and daughter.
Gill said she recieved the Pfizer vaccine in March. Her daughter is too young to get vaccinated.
Along with her husband, Gill said they followed the rules from health officials, including wearing mask and social distancing. However, as coronavirus restrictions were lifted, Gill eased up on precautions.
“I was getting lax in how I was wearing my mask. I was getting lax in how many people I was around and I really stopped necessarily the six feet apart."
Then, Gill got the virus and said she believes she passed it to her daughter.
"It’s clear that there are strains that can break through vaccines," Gill said.
Health officials across the country are reporting the delta variant of the COVID-19 is spreading fast.
"What was circulating last year at this time, for every one person with COVID-19, it would only effect maybe two to three people. The newest data about delta is for one person infected it actually infected seven," said epidemologist Elizabeth Holzschuh.
Holzschuh works with the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment and said the delta variant is here.
“We’re definitely seeing some alarming signs throughout the country with younger people being hospitalized and certainly the unvaccinated really being affected by delta," she said.
Gill said her doctors believe she may have the delta variant, but haven't confirmed it yet.
Gill is considered a breakthrough case since she contracted the virus after being vaccinated. Holzschuh said such cases are rare.
"If you think about Johnson County, we have 250,000 residents who are fully immunized. When we look at our breakthrough cases, so people who have been fully vaccinated and then end up with symptoms or end up testing positive, we’re only talking about 150 or 200. So it’s really less than 0.1% of vaccinated individuals," Holzschuh said.
According to the CDC, 154 million Americans are fully vaccinated. The agency has identified 4,686 patients with breakthrough infection who were hospitalized or died.
Spokespersons with state health departments in Kansas and Missouri did not have available data on breakthrough patients.
As Gill and her daughter recover, the mom asks unvaccinated people to reconsider and get the shot.
Meanwhile, she plans to make changes after she recovers.
"I’m going to go back to wearing a mask in every public setting I’m in now. I’m going to be much more thoughtful about ventilation in the space that I’m in. So be vigilant. Unfortunately, we’re not over the hump yet," Gill said.
