- Melissa Joan Hart is opening up to fans about her experience with a breakthrough case of COVID-19.
- The Sabrina the Teenage Witch star, shared the news in an Instagram video, detailing how she thinks she caught the virus and how she’s feeling now.
- CDC officials recently announced that the agency will recommend booster shots for people eight months after their second vaccine to help prevent the likelihood of breakthrough infections.
Melissa Joan Hart is opening up to fans about her experience with a breakthrough case of COVID-19.
The Sabrina the Teenage Witch star, shared the news in an Instagram video, detailing how she thinks she caught the virus and how she’s feeling now.
"I am vaccinated and I got COVID, and it's bad," a stuffy-sounding Melissa said told fans from her bed. "It's weighing on my chest. It's hard to breathe. One of my kids, I think, has it so far. I'm praying that the other ones are okay."
Melissa said she’s “mad” about the situation “because we took precautions.” But, she said, she and her family “got a little lazy” about reducing their risk of contracting the virus.
"I think as a country we got a little lazy and I'm really mad that my kids didn’t have to wear a mask at school,” she continued. “I'm pretty sure where this came from.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped tracking all breakthrough COVID-19 infections in May, choosing instead to publicly share data on breakthrough infections that led to hospitalizations and deaths.
The data is slightly confusing: While the CDC says that 7,608 Americans have been hospitalized with breakthrough infections and 1,587 have died from them, they include small caveats below that point out that 25% of those who were hospitalized had asymptomatic infections or weren’t hospitalized because of COVID-19. Another 21% of the fatal cases of breakthrough infections were also asymptomatic or not related to the virus.
It’s not clear how many people in the country have experienced breakthrough infections as a whole, but anecdotal reports of cases seem to be increasing. CDC officials also recently announced that the agency will recommend booster shots for people eight months after their second vaccine to help prevent the likelihood of breakthrough infections.
Melissa pointed out that there’s “nothing I can do about that now,” but pointed out that her youngest son kept wearing a mask to school "because he was used to it from last year." Now, she says, if her youngest does get COVID-19, “I can tell him that he was a superhero because he protected his teacher and his classmates from it.”
"I just really hope my husband and the other ones don't get it because if someone has to be taken to the hospital, I can't go with them," she said, tearing up.
Melissa said that she’s feeling “scared and sad, and disappointed in myself and some of our leaders. I just wish I'd done better, so I'm asking you guys to do better. Protect your families. Protect your kids.”
She ended on this note: “It's not over yet. I hoped it was, but it's not, so stay vigilant and stay safe.”
Melissa also wrote in the caption of her video that she’s “not posting this to be political or gain pity, I just want to share my journey. This isn't up for debate, it's just how I feel today on my page.”
Melissa said in a later post that she’s “feeling better,” adding, “Mask up, isolate, and test constantly!”
