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A local doctor explains why it's still possible to contract COVID-19 even after being fully vaccinated.

NOTE:  Please don't read this and infer that I'm discouraging anyone from taking the coronavirus vaccine. That is not the case. I've gotten my first shot. I'm in the camp that feels it's important to get vaccinated and I've encouraged friends and family members to do so as well, but I certainly respect each individual's right to make this personal decision for his or herself.

In the video below, Metro Detroit Doctor Frank McGeorge explains that while the COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective at preventing coronavirus, it is still possible to contract the disease.

"These vaccines are highly effective, but they are not 100 percent. No vaccine is," McGeorge tells WDIV. "That means there will be a small percentage of people who still get COVID, but that does not mean the vaccine did not help them."

McGeorge goes on to explain that in the vaccine trials, a small number of people who were vaccinated still tested positive for the disease compared to a significantly larger number of people who received the placebos.

He explains that people who do get sick from COVID after receiving the vaccinations will likely have symptoms that are much less severe than those who have not been inoculated.

"All three vaccines are highly effective at preventing people from getting severely ill, needing to be hospitalized, or dying," McGeorge says. "That does not mean no one ever gets sick, but it does mean the vaccines are doing what we need them to do."

 

 

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

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