Georgia anchor sidelined with breakthrough COVID case. ‘I have struggled to breathe’
Georgia TV news anchor Fred Blankenship finally revealed what’s been keeping him away from the news desk these last few weeks: COVID-19.
Blankenship, who usually anchors the morning broadcast at WSB-TV in Atlanta, addressed his absence in a lengthy Facebook post Wednesday, saying the virus “found my family with a bullseye.”
“While on vacation in California members of my immediate family came down with Covid,” he wrote. “We took all the precautions, got the vaccinations and it still happened. We quarantined, tested like crazy and hoped for the best.”
By the end of the trip, Blankenship said he, too, had tested positive and fell ill.
“Breakthrough positives as they are known are very real,” he continued.
COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to protect people from getting severely sick with COVID-19 and can stave off extended hospital stays and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, no vaccine is 100% effective and, though rare, fully vaccinated people can still contract the virus.
These cases, known as breakthrough infections, can cause COVID-like symptoms that can be mild or severe. Asymptomatic cases are also possible among people who are vaccinated.
Blankenship, 46, said he figured his symptoms would be mild since he’d gotten the jab. He thought wrong.
“Over the past two weeks I have struggled to breathe,” he wrote. “I’ve acted like the biggest baby through aches and pains. And, I lost my ability to taste and smell. Luckily that part is slowly starting to return. I think I smelled peanut butter today. Optimism is high!”
The vaccine and staying in “relatively good shape” is what kept him out of the hospital, Blankenship said the doctor told him.
The TV journalist joined WSB-TV in 2007 and is perhaps best known for his inspirational, often energetic, morning messages ahead of the 4:30 newscast. Viewers flocked to the station’s Facebook page to wish Blankenship a speedy recovery.
“So glad you are on the mend!” one person commented. “Take care of yourself and look forward to seeing your smiling face again soon!”
“I have wondered where you were,” wrote another. “I am so glad that you and your family are doing better. We have missed you.”
Blankenship said he’s recovering and looks forward to returning to the news desk Monday.
“I’m feeling much better and getting better,” he said in a video message Friday. “Thanks to so many of you for well-wishes. I will be seeing you amazing people on Monday as hopefully I’m feeling good and ready to go. Until then, something I want to leave you with, something that Eddie Murphy said in ‘Coming to America’ many years ago. ‘To be loved, to be loved. Oh what a feeling to be loved.’ Thank you. That is how I feel.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Georgia anchor sidelined with breakthrough COVID case. ‘I have struggled to breathe’."