Max Lucado tests positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, finds 'reason for thanks'
Popular Christian bestselling author and pastor Max Lucado announced that he recently tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated against the virus.
In a tweet Sunday, Lucado showed a photo of a COVID test listing him as positive for the virus on Saturday, noting that it stopped him from preaching the following day at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas.
“Turns out it's me in a downstairs room with aches, stuffy head and quarantine,” tweeted Lucado, adding that the virus also prevented him from going on a golf trip to Ireland this week.
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In a follow-up tweet, Lucado added that “there is reason for thanks," citing good medical care, his wife and being “at home instead of a hotel.”
“Though miserable, the misery would have been worse with no vaccination. So doing my best to count blessings,” he continued, offering to pray for anyone who posts a request.
Recently, there has been some question regarding the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, with research from Israel indicating that their effectiveness is in decline.
“Israel's health ministry released preliminary data suggesting that, while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine remains very effective at preventing severe Covid-19, it may be losing effectiveness against milder cases of the disease,” reported Advisory Board, a healthcare resource group.
“Specifically, researchers have estimated the vaccine was just 39% effective at preventing infection in Israel in late June and early July, compared to 95% from January to early April. However, the vaccine was more than 90% effective at preventing severe Covid-19 in both time periods.”
According to Advisory Board, various factors could be responsible for this trend, including the COVID-19 variants, waning immunity by those vaccinated early on and even “a mathematical fluke.”
“Case numbers are much lower in Israel now than they were earlier in the year, so it's increasingly difficult to accurately gauge the degree of protection provided by vaccines,” the Advisory Board report noted.
Last week, NBC News reported that while some fully vaccinated Americans have contracted COVID-19 and even died as a result, this number represents a very small percentage of all vaccinated individuals.
NBC News found around 65,000 cases of “breakthrough infections” in 27 states. Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there were over 5,900 cases of fully vaccinated people being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 breakthrough infections as of July 19.
These totals were out of more than 160 million fully vaccinated Americans and the vast majority of the breakthrough infections involved mild symptoms, according to Dr. Jay Butler, the head of the CDC's COVID-19 response.
