Millions of Americans are being vaccinated with the two-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, and both options are remarkably effective at protecting against the coronavirus. But getting protection from the shots takes time.
If you are receiving the Pfizer vaccine, you should wait three weeks between your first dose and your second dose, or as close to that interval as possible. If you receive the Moderna vaccine, wait four weeks between shots. (And for both, you’re not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after your second dose.)
So what happens in between? Can you get infected with COVID-19? And what can you do about it? Here’s What You Should Know.
Yes, it is certainly possible to get COVID-19 after your first shot.
You may feel elated after receiving your first dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and this is understandable. The vaccines are hailed as miraculous for the speed with which they were developed and for their effectiveness.
But it takes a while for your immune system to build up a response, and experts still aren’t quite clear how much protection people have after just one shot. Current studies suggest that a single dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine is about 80% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection about two weeks after your first injection.
“It can and certainly will happen,” said Paul Pottinger, an infectious disease expert at the University of Washington, referring to the possibility of becoming infected between doses. “Remember, we see even COVID-19 infections in patients who have been fully immunized, meaning they are solid two to five weeks after their second dose of either or mRNA immunizations.”
Researchers have been aware of this possibility from the outset. Pottinger pointed out that the original clinical studies for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showed that they were both about 95% effective at preventing COVID-19 after both injections. But some of the vaccine recipients who became ill during the trials were in between their two doses.
“What I would say is, if people are concerned about contracting COVID-19 in the middle of their immunization process, damn good,” added Pottinger. “They should be concerned about this because they are not yet protected.”
But you really have to be well protected against serious illness and death.
Researchers and health care providers are basically allergic to absolute terms when it comes to anything related to human health and drugs, so you’ll never hear anyone say something is 100%. But one shot of the mRNA vaccines seems to come pretty close to perfection in terms of preventing hospitalization and death.
“People who have received their first dose are dramatic well protected against hospitalization or death, ”said Pottinger.
“In the studies, no one who was vaccinated died. Obviously in the real world we have many, many more people, but they are still extremely, extremely effective at preventing serious illness and death, ”added Valerie Cluzet, infectious diseases physician and medical director of infection control and antibiotic management at Nuvance . Health.
“That’s certainly true after your second dose, but probably also after the first dose,” she noted.
If you get COVID-19 between doses, you should still get your second dose, but the timeline will likely be different.
Whatever happens, you should still plan to have your second chance. That’s because, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain, experts still don’t really know how long people are protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19 – and reinfection is possible.
However, experts know a little more about how long vaccines protect you. Current evidence suggests that people who get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines have (and still do) robust protection for at least six months.
That said, getting COVID-19 in between doses may change the timing of your second shot a bit. First, you shouldn’t plan on getting vaccinated until you meet the criteria set by the CDC to end your isolation. That’s partly to protect others while you should be in quarantine. But it’s also to give your body the best chance of developing a robust immune response.
‘You should wait until you get over the acute illness. You really want to give your immune system the best possible chance to respond to the vaccine, ”said Cluzet.
You can also choose to temporarily postpone the vaccination when there is a real demand for supplies.
The CDC has said that as long as you are allowed to leave home, you can be immunized on schedule, or as close to schedule as possible, but because this is such a precious resource, the CDC has asked us to consider a postponement. second dose 30 days after the onset of symptoms, because then other people may be immunized … it is a courtesy to our fellow citizens, ”explained Pottinger.
It is important to keep masking and keep a social distance.
Again, even after you have been fully immunized, “vaccine breakthroughs” are expected. That’s one of the reasons why some recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals have changed (such as the ability to get together with other vaccinated people without masks), while others haven’t been admitted.
It is still important for everyone to mask and maintain social distance. If you have been vaccinated, you should still do these things unless you are in a private area with other vaccinated individuals or another low-risk unvaccinated household. If you have not yet been vaccinated, get the vaccine that is available to you when it is available to you.
“We are increasingly learning that the vaccines also prevent transmission, so you not only protect yourself, but you also protect others,” said Cluzet. “It’s personal health, but it’s also public health.”