WASHINGTON — Pharmacies around the country have started administering the updated COVID-19 vaccine shots approved last week by the federal government. But with new vaccines come new questions, as the guidance has often changed with previous rollouts.
Since infection rates have risen recently, one viewer asked how an illness and recovery affect the vaccination schedule.
QUESTION
Is it true that people have to wait three months after getting COVID-19 to get the new vaccine shots?
SOURCES
ANSWER
No, you do not have to wait three months after getting infected with COVID-19 to get the new vaccines, though it may be recommended.
WHAT WE FOUND
The CDC creates the health guidance that most government agencies and doctors follow related to COVID-19, as well as many other illness and medical topics.
It updated its guidance related to COVID-19 vaccination shortly after the new vaccines were authorized last week. It says people can consider delaying vaccination by three months after getting sick. The CDC says the risk of reinfection is lower in the weeks and months afterward because of the immune response to the virus.
"However," it says on its website, "certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as:
- personal risk of severe disease,
- risk of disease in a loved one or close contact,
- local COVID-19 hospital admission level,
- and the most common COVID-19 variant currently causing illness."
Andrew Pekosz, PhD, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University, said there is also some evidence to support waiting six months after an infection instead of three. He added that people in the high risk groups should talk to their doctor to determine when the best time would be to get vaccinated.
In their online appointment booking systems, neither Walgreens nor CVS ask whether the person getting the shot has been infected recently. Walgreens says on its website that people who do not get vaccinated after they recover from a COVID-19 infection are more likely to get sick again than people who do get the shot.
