Report: Golden State Warriors Damion Lee Contracted COVID After Vaccination in March
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Golden State Warriors forward Damion Lee on Thursday revealed that he contracted COVID-19 last month after being fully vaccinated.
Lee was speaking to media at the Chase Center Thursday prior to the team's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder when he made the surprising announcement.
Warriors beat reporter for The Athletic Anthony Slater reported the news and posted a video clip featuring Lee's comments on catching COVID.
"So basically, long story short, I did test positive for COVID about two weeks ago," Lee explained. "I did get the vaccine in the middle-end of March. Essentially this is just a rare breakthrough case."
Lee went on to say that research indicates there has been "about 6,000 people who tested positive with breakthrough cases out of the over 80 million that have been fully vaccinated."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the national rate of people who have been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus have tested positive for COVID-19 is approximately 0.008%.
Lee said that there currently is "no timeline for the immediate future for me coming back and playing," noting that there would be COVID protocols to be dealt with in addition to "getting back into basketball shape."
While some breakthrough cases after vaccination report little in the way of COVID symptoms, Lee did not have that experience.
"I had headache, chills, sneezing, congestion, soreness, body aches. It felt like I was hit by a car -- hit by two cars at once," Lee explained. He also said he experienced pain with any movement and felt like he had a weight on his chest and difficulty breathing for a couple of days.
Despite having recovered, Lee said that he still has not fully gotten his appetite back and continues to experience the type of "brain fog" that many patients who contract COVID describe.
Lee has not played since April 19. The Warriors are scrambling to earn a spot in the play-in tournament to make the NBA playoffs with five more games left in the current season ending homestand.
