'I was feeling awful': Breakthrough patient describes COVID-19 battle

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman recently tested positive for COVID-19 just months after getting her vaccine. Barbara Hart works in health care and was fully vaccinated by the end of January.

She was relieved to have the protection but then over Memorial Day weekend, she started coming down with what she thought were allergies.

"I just felt a little odd," Hart said. "I thought it was just allergies, a little tickle in my throat, a tickly cough."

Over the next few days, her condition worsened. By midweek, she knew it was more than allergies.

"I was feeling pretty awful."

She took a COVID-19 test. Her results came back positive.

"I had a sinking suspicion that even though I was vaccinated, I should have been feeling better by now."

She was "sickest I have ever been" for two weeks. She was too sick to "even watch TV."

Hart is one of roughly 1,300 Utahns who have come down with breakthrough COVID-19, meaning they're getting the virus after getting the vaccine.

It surprised Hart. She tested positive for the antibodies even though she thought she was immune.

She understands people are sick of masks, social distancing, and excessive hand washing. However, if there's one thing she learned from this, it's that COVID-19 is not over yet.

She's relieved she was vaccinated and believes her condition could have been much worse had she not had the vaccine to protect her.

Click here to find out where to get a vaccine in Utah.

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Debbie Worthen

Debbie Worthen brings nearly two decades of award-winning journalism experience to the KSL Newsroom and is thrilled be working for Utah’s legacy news organization. She anchors KSL 5 News at 4 and Live at 5 with Mike Headrick and reports for KSL 5 News at 10pm. There are countless things Debbie enjoys about working in local news, but storytelling is at the top of the list. Whether it’s meeting the remarkable people of Utah as they do amazing things, informing viewers of critical breaking news and issues that impact their communities or reporting on daily assignments like weather and traffic, Debbie is honored to be the one trusted to tell Utahn’s stories. She believes journalistic integrity and a commitment to accuracy have never been more important than they are now. Debbie started her career as a writer, producer and traffic reporter while finishing her communications degree at The University of Utah before making the jump to a full-time on-air position. (Although you could say she caught the news “bug” at KOLT-News at Cottonwood High School.) After several moves across the country, Debbie and her husband, Brandon Gilbert, moved to Utah to start their family. They love everything Utah has to offer and can’t imagine living anywhere else. Outside the office, Debbie and her family are advocates for at-risk youth and have fostered several children through Utah Foster Care. As a family they enjoy movie nights in the basement, trying new recipes and, a few times a year, traveling to exotic locations!