MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Mt. Juliet man said his long haul COVID-19 symptoms disappeared after getting his first Pfizer shot.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Alex Lucas said he got COVID-19. When he got better, some symptoms didn't go away. Lucas said, "and probably for a good month I was like a zombie."
He could only walk for a few minutes on the treadmill due to breathing problems. "I couldn’t think straight, every joint hurt, every muscle hurt, everything hurt," Lucas said.
On top of his symptoms, work has been slow, and his dad passed away after battling COVID-19. Lucas said, "It was a rough rough year."
Last week he got his first Pfizer shot, and miraculously, his chronic symptoms vanished. Lucas said, "It changed, and I’m actually smiling again."
Dr. David Aronoff, the director of the infectious disease division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said it’s hard for them to know whether it’s the vaccine caused that to happen, or it’s just by chance." Dr. Aronoff said, "We are definitely hearing stories similar to that from around the world."
Dr. Aronoff said around 1/3 of patients with long haul syndrome from COVID-19 are reporting their ailments have gone away after getting vaccinated. Aronoff said, "and what we don’t know is if those people, roughly 1/3 were going to improve anyways over that period of time, or if this was coincidental of getting the vaccine."
Meanwhile, Alex Lucas said he feels like he got 10 years back on his life. Lucas said, “Yay science.”
If you've ever been interviewed by Channel5, you might recognize Alex. He used to be a photojournalist with our team.
