I was vaxxed, masked and careful, yet still caught COVID-19. We can't let our guard down.

Wanda S. Lloyd
·4 min read
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This is a column by Wanda Lloyd, a retired journalist and the author of the memoir "COMING FULL CIRCLE: From Jim Crow to Journalism."

Not a day goes by when someone doesn’t declare how tired we are of the COVID-19 pandemic, how much we want to be able to safely toss the masks, hug friends and loved ones, see smiling faces or safely travel without having to test and retest.

I know. I’m one of them. I count myself among those who have done everything prescribed by the science and research of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the doctors and immunology experts we follow on TV. I stood in line outside on an untypically frigid Savannah day in January 2021 when the first vaccines were available to those of us of a certain age, and a few months later I was boosted in the first wave when I was eligible.

Take every COVID-19 protection, from testing to masking to social distancing, writes a recent victim of a breakthrough case.
Take every COVID-19 protection, from testing to masking to social distancing, writes a recent victim of a breakthrough case.

I’ve been ducking and dodging COVID-19 for two years, staying away from large crowds, picking up groceries curbside or going inside stores when they are typically least crowded. The rare times I dine out I’m careful to preview restaurant websites to verify that they are following some sort of CDC guidelines for cleanliness and safety, especially serving fewer tables so diners are reasonably spaced.

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But like a lot of people, weary two years into this nightmare, COVID broke through, caught me in a moment of weakness and kicked me in the rear end. I was sick.

So sick that my daughter drove overnight from her home six hours away without even taking the time to pack a suitcase. She was concerned not only about me, but about her dad, who has compromising health issues. (Mercifully, he shows no symptoms and he is just fine.)

If it weren’t so serious, her presence was a loving comedy show. Like a drill sergeant or the character Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” - “Back up!” she yelled at her dad every time he masked up and left his isolation room to sneak out to check on his wife. “Twelve feet apart,” she ordered, pacing off the space and doubling the recommended distance of safety.

She spent her days working virtually at her job and apparently in her spare time at night connecting with friends who are medical professionals, or scouring the Internet for treatments. Lots of water, soup, hot tea with honey, a humidifier treated with a menthol scent – the normal stuff for severe cold symptoms.

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Changing information leads to confusion

In preparing to write this column as my way of imploring the public to take this disease more seriously and to follow CDC guidelines, I checked on the latest research and local community statistics. No wonder we are in a quandary.

The information is a mess of confusion. I looked at videos, reviewed CDC and our state and county health department websites and read numerous news stories about where we are right now. The information changes weekly, the numbers are a daily moving target and there is not much of a consensus about how many vaccines make us fully protected.

One thing I did learn, though, is that after two vaccines, one booster more than six months ago, working from home, wearing masks every time I am inside a building other than my home (except when seated at the table in restaurants) and submitting to temperature checks every time I visit a medical facility, I was no longer protected.

Speaking up about dangers

I’ve known some people who are vaxxed, masked and careful, yet they have been silent about the fact that COVID caught up with them, as if it were some scourge that reflects bad behavior.

Wanda Smalls Lloyds is an author and retired newspaper editor.
Wanda Smalls Lloyds is an author and retired newspaper editor.

Not me. I want everyone to know that we cannot, we must not let down our guard. I was sick, especially with a cough that I feared might send me off to meet the ancestors. But from what I’ve seen of those who are hospitalized, or worse, I was not nearly as sick as I would have been without the vaccines and the booster.

With a mere six months of full protection before I got sick, I fully expect a second booster is in our future. From what I now know about how bad COVID can be, I’ll be one of the first in line for the next jab.

I dodged a powerful bullet, and I hope and pray you will, too.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: A COVID-19 breakthrough case tells readers not to let their guard down