Tulsa Family Catches COVID-19 Delta Variant After Vaccination

A Tulsa family that was fully vaccinated is warning others, after catching the COVID-19 Delta variant. They said because they got the vaccine, their symptoms weren’t as bad as they could have been.

The State Health Department said although being fully vaccinated will greatly lower your chances of hospitalization from the Delta variant, you can still get sick. April Ketchum said she's an example of that. 

"You think that you got that safety net with the vaccine and this Delta variant did not. It didn't pick sides," Ketchum said. "It got our whole group." 

Madison Thomas, an epidemiologist with the Tulsa Health Department, said the amount of other potential cases has caused some concern.

"We certainly do want individuals who are not vaccinated yet to get vaccinated to protect themselves," Thomas said. 

According to OSDH, more than 700 of the 1.5 million fully vaccinated Oklahomans have tested positive for COVID-19.

Ketchum said they got the virus after going to a family function three weeks ago. Since she has nagging asthma, Ketchum said she can't express how grateful she is to already have been vaccinated.

"There is no telling how bad it could have gotten for me had I not had the vaccine already in my system," Ketchum said. 

Ketchum said testing positive was definitely disheartening, since she did everything she could to avoid exposure, including not eating at a restaurant until April. 

"It's crazy to think about that, you thought you were safe, you thought you were good, and everything was going back to normal I guess, but there really isn't a normal," Ketchum said. 

Thomas said that if you have not gotten vaccinated, now is the most important time to get it.