Yonkers Assemblyman Nader Sayegh says he is in good spirits while under a seven-day quarantine after he tested positive for COVID-19, despite the fact that he was vaccinated for the virus. “I was surprised, really I was shocked. Here I am, vaccinated, and I got COVID-19,” said Sayegh, who recorded a public service announcement encouraging Westchester residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the NY State Mass Vaccination Site at the Yonkers National Guard Armory, when it opened in March of 2021.
Sayegh received the Moderna vaccine in February but said he is regularly tested as a precaution to protect his family, friends, Assembly staff and constituents He was tested for COVID after feeling a little under the weather and received a result he was not expecting, and tested positive.
“This is something that for me was a wakeup call that you can never feel there are enough safeguards,” said Sayegh, who is going public with his story in the hopes that it will encourage more hesitant New Yorkers to realize the COVID-19 Delta variant is, as reported by the CDC, far more contagious than earlier strains of the virus, and a serious health threat to those not vaccinated.
While Sayegh and many elected officials in Yonkers are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, 44% of Yonkers residents are still not vaccinated.
