The fully vaccinated Minnesota man who became one of the country's first Omicron cases said he was 'taken aback' but feeling well after learning he was infected with the feared variant after coming back from a packed NYC Anime convention in November.
Peter McGinn, 30, had met up with 35 people from a friends group - 15 of whom have since tested positive - to attend the convention at the Javits Center, which drew about 53,000 people from November 20-22.
It is unknown how many in that fully vaccinated group have the Omicron variant. The group had also all gone out to a bar following the event.
McGinn, a health care analyst from Minneapolis, was fully vaccinated and received his first booster shot during the first week of November.
'I felt perfectly safe with the people that I was with, and so it never really crossed my mind to think that I had COVID,' McGinn told ABC. 'I was just a little taken aback.'
Minneapolis health care analyst Peter McGinn, 30, has spoken about how surprised he was after he became one of the first people in the country to contract the Omicron variant despite being fully vaccinated and receiving the booster shot
McGinn had tested positive for the variant after he traveling to New York in late November for the NYC Anime convention at Javits Center
McGinn had also stated he was surprised to discover he had contracted not only the virus, but the new variant after he had taken a series of precautions.
'When I first heard it, I thought it was a supervillain,' McGinn told the Star Tribune.
'It seems like a villain name to me and so I guess that kind of matches this since it's a virus.'
McGinn had flown into LaGuardia Airport in New York on November 18 and stayed with two friends in an Airbnb in Hell's Kitchen. He attended the convention on November 20.
After he returned home from the convention on November 22, a friend had confirmed a positive result for COVID, which prompted McGinn to get a test.
McGinn then discovered he tested positive for the virus after he took an at-home test and then later went to a PCR testing site for further confirmation.
After coming home from the convention, McGinn tested positive for COVID before receiving the news that he had contracted the variant almost a week later
'That threw me for a loop because I really wasn’t feeling sick,' he said.
He said he had suffered from a slightly runny nose and a small cough, which he attributed to exhaustion as well as his asthma.
He also thought his symptoms may be related to a 15-mile trek he took in the city with his friends.
Almost a week after receiving the positive result, he was called in for routine contact tracing.
McGinn was told on December 1 that he was exposed to the new variant after Minnesota health officials had confirmed his samples were a part of Omicron.
Despite the diagnosis, McGinn said he didn't really feel sick and recovered rather quickly.
'A lot of it was just like, 'See, vaccines don't work.' But in my opinion, they absolutely work because they reduce the amount of people who are in the hospital,' he told the Tribune.
'You might still get COVID, but it reduces the symptoms based off my experience.'
He also said that he is an advocate for the vaccine and is encouraging others to get the booster shot.
'I'm very pro-science, pro-vaccine,' he said. 'I do believe that the booster and getting the vaccine helps reduce the symptoms that I had.
'And I would definitely recommend anybody who, when they can, get the booster.'
The convention had about 53,000 people in attendance with McGinn interacting with about 35 people
The convention was held between November 19 to 21 which many attributed to the spread of the new variant
McGinn is curious to see what long-term dangers are posed by the new strain.
'I honestly felt fine the entire time,' he said. 'I'm more interested in seeing the results, like if more people get this and their reaction to it.'
Four of the group members who were with McGinn and have since tested positive are working with the Minnesota Department of Health to see if they contracted the Omicron variant.
Members of the friend group hailed from an array of states across the country - prompting fears that the convention contributed - and may still be contributing - to the strain's spread across the nation.
On Saturday, those fears were confirmed when Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont reported the first case in his state, which was contracted by a man in his 60s who had a relative attend the anime convention.
Images release by the Covid Genomics UK Consortium show the drastic increase in spike protein mutations in the Omciron COVID-19 variant when compared to the Delta variant
The man, who was fully vaccinated, started experiencing mild symptoms on November 27 and was tested on November 29, officials say. His sample was then passed onto the Department of Public Health, which detected the omicron variant.
Both the man and his relative were fully vaccinated and experiencing only mild symptoms, officials say.
The Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa and has now spread to 38 different countries, including at least 17 states in the US.
Massachusetts announced its first case Saturday, a day after New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Missouri reported their first confirmed cases.
The variant also has been detected in Nebraska, Minnesota, California, Hawaii, Colorado and Utah.
The WHO warned it could take weeks to determine how infectious the variant is, whether it causes more severe illness and how effective treatments and vaccines are against it.
Anime NYC released a statement after they were made aware of McGinn's diagnosis
Earlier this week, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio warned those who attended the three-day anime event to 'immediately' receive a COVID-19 test
In an interview with CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci told the the network that there 'does not look like there's a great deal of severity' in terms of the new variant.
He added, however, that more studies and research need to be done to draw further conclusions.
Fauci also praised South Africa for their efficiency during this time as the US travel ban still remains intact.
'We all feel very badly about the hardship that that might have put upon not only South Africa but the other African countries,' he added.
He said that he hopes the travel ban will be lifted in a 'reasonable period of time.'
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