Just some sniffles and maybe a headache. Sure I was tired, but as a mom of two young boys, I didn’t think much of that. I had felt congested for about three days and then my husband also started feeling a little under the weather.
Again, we didn’t think anything of it, we were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. I had gotten two doses of Pfizer and my husband, Moderna, both in April of 2021. But then, during dinner on a Monday in early September, after our mild cold symptoms had started, my husband said he suddenly couldn’t taste his meal. That’s when we knew.
The next morning we got lucky and found a couple of rapid antigen tests. Those were positive for COVID-19. I, still slightly in denial, rushed with my husband to a COVIDCheck Colorado testing site for a PCR test. That came back in less than 24 hours, much quicker than we were expecting, also positive.
Then our quarantine began. We received calls from both the State of Colorado as well as Tri County Health outlining that we must remain quarantined for 10 days, starting from when we first felt symptoms. Our two children both tested negative so we wore masks in our house whenever we were around them and ate at a different time in a different room. Thankfully they never got it!
Where did we get it? Who knows. Like so many others, we had loosened up with wearing masks and social distancing after getting fully vaccinated. Our oldest child was back to in-person school, we had gone to restaurants, concerts, stayed in hotels.
We became an example of the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic, where yes, even the vaccinated can get sick. We are lucky that we didn’t go up against the virus with a naïve immune system however and that our symptoms were very mild. Again, just a headache, sniffles, and felt extra tired.
It’s important to stress that the COVID-19 vaccines are still proving to be highly effective at protecting people from getting really sick, being hospitalized, or dying. The majority of COVID hospitalizations remain to be among those that are unvaccinated, "At somewhere between 80 and 90 percent across Colorado," said Dr. Michelle Barron, a CU Medicine infectious disease physician.
Even with the emergence of new variants such as delta and now omicron, experts advise that the best defense is to get vaccinated and wear masks in public.
Need your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or a booster? You can schedule an appointment through the My Health Connection portal. Those without internet access can call: 720-462-2255 (English), 844-945-2508 (Español).
Click/tap here to find additional vaccination locations in Colorado. If you need a ride to get your vaccine, Mile High United Way’s Ride United program is providing access to free rides (up to 25 miles each way) to vaccination sites across Colorado. Dial 2-1-1 or visit 211colorado.org to learn more.