Health

Detroit concert had vaccine requirement. A reporter and her husband were breakthrough cases

October 01, 2021, 12:12 PM

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Maureen Feighan was "relieved when we left." (Photo: Twitter)

Maskless indoor concerts with vaccine or negative Covid-test requirements? If you're thinking of attending one, perhaps first consider this anecdote: A Detroit News reporter's husband likely caught Covid at a recent Gogol Bordello show at the Majestic, and two of three other family members later tested positive for the virus.

Maureen Feighan attended what appears was the Sept. 12 concert with her husband and another couple who all wore masks, she writes in a first-hand account in today's Detroit News

But 90% of our fellow concert-goers — all required to either be fully vaccinated or show negative test results before the show — were unmasked ... you could almost see sweat flying through the air as people danced and jumped around. I was relieved when we left.

Six days later, my husband — who is fully vaccinated — started to get what he thought were allergies. He felt rundown and stuffy. We decided he should get a COVID test to be on safe side. It came back positive.

Feighan eventually tested positive too, though she initially tested negative the day after her husband. The design writer makes the case that her illness could be the result of waning vaccine efficacy, because her daughter, who was vaccinated in late May, was the only person in the family who did not get sick. Her son was unvaccinated.

She also notes vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant.

According to heathline.com, data so far suggests the Moderna vaccine is approximately 50 to 95% effective against the delta variant, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 39 to 96% effective against it. My husband tested positive almost six months to the day after our second dose of the Moderna vaccine.

Still, even if we wanted a booster, we couldn't get one because there isn't one available yet for the Moderna vaccine and we don't qualify.

Breakthrough cases remain unlikely. As of Sept. 21, just .5 percent of fully vaccinated Michiganders had had a known breakthrough case and just .2 percent had been hospitalized, MLive reported. 

Risk, of course, varies based on activity, and Feighan says she won't be attending more concerts anytime soon — especially if they lack mask requirements.


Read more:  The Detroit News


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