‘Wear your mask’: Fully vaccinated Indio woman tests positive for Covid

Sherry Silver from Indio thought her two Pfizer shots meant she'd be protected from Covid-19.

She'd avoided the virus for a year and a half, until last month, she tested positive.

"I was pretty sick," Silver said, speaking exclusively to News Channel 3. "I didn't have a temperature; I didn't have body aches; I did have sinus congestion, a cough. I lost my taste and smell."

She's now recovered, but two of her close friends who were also fully vaccinated tested positive as well.

Silver and her friends are in the minority of people in Riverside County who have caught Covid despite being vaccinated. In the 22,000 new cases since February, 98 percent were unvaccinated people or those who had only one shot.

But there are other breakthrough cases at valley hospitals. Eisenhower Health is reporting just one of its 12 Covid patients is fully vaccinated. That person had almost no symptoms, a hospital spokeswoman said. An official at Desert Regional Medical Center said the "vast majority" of its 9 patients are unvaccinated as well.

Silver said her positive diagnosis was a wakeup call for her, and it should be for others.

"I was pretty sick and that scares me," she said. "I'm happy I had the vaccine because I don't know how bad it would have been without the vaccine... Until this is done, I will be wearing my mask wherever I go."

She's pleading those who remain unvaccinated to do their part in ending the pandemic.

"If you're not vaccinated, that's on you," Silver said. "Wear your mask."

All three vaccine makers say their shots are showing promise in preventing severe outcomes from new strains of the virus. One recent study shows Pfizer 84 percent effective against the Delta variant.