DO IT: Get your vaccine when it’s your turn.
DO NOT: Let vaccine misinformation cloud your judgment.
Social media is rife with misinformation about Covid-19 and the vaccines available to prevent it.
DO: Get vaccinated if you have already taken Covid-19.
Reinfection with Covid-19 is definitely possible, says the CDC, so everyone needs to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, including those who have already had the disease.
- note: If you received convalescent monoclonal antibodies or plasma while you were ill with Covid-19, you should wait 90 days after treatment before receiving the vaccine, recommends the CDC. Check with your doctor before scheduling the injection.
DON’T: take a picture if you currently have Covid-19 or have been exposed.
If you tested positive for Covid-19 or were exposed to someone who has the disease, you should not go to the vaccination site to have your injection until symptoms and the isolation period have passed, said Dr. Michael Ison, professor from the infectious disease and organ transplant division at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
“You just don’t want people waiting in line to get sick. You don’t want the health team to be sick, ”said Ison.
DO: Take the injection even if you still have Covid symptoms months later.
An increasing number of people are becoming coronavirus “long-haulers” – people who continue to suffer from fatigue, mental confusion, aches, headaches and more for months after the virus has left their systems.
Don’t let your constant reactions stop you from getting the injection, said vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, teacher and dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
“We think that long-distance symptoms are not due to active infection of the virus, but to prolonged inflammatory responses to the virus,” said Hotez.
DON’T: get another type of vaccine within 14 days after the Covid-19 vaccine.
Wait at least 14 days before or after receiving another vaccine, including a flu or herpes zoster vaccine, to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, says the CDC.
DO: Inform the vaccination team of any previous allergies or allergic reactions.
It is rare, but some people have had moderate to severe allergic reactions after receiving mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, so advise the nurse at the vaccination site of any previous allergic reactions.
If you have a history of immediate or severe allergic reactions to vaccines or other injections, try taking an EpiPen available, said Dr. Saju Mathew, a primary care physician and public health specialist from Atlanta.
DO NOT: Drive before your 15 to 30 minute wait is over.
The CDC requires everyone who receives a coronavirus vaccine to wait 15 minutes in their cars before leaving. If you have a history of severe allergic reactions, you will need to wait 30 minutes in the car to make sure it is safe to drive. Both are a minor inconvenience, experts say, compared to the dangers of an adverse reaction to dizziness or worse while driving.
Common reactions to the vaccine are pain and swelling at the injection site. Sometimes, more commonly after the second injection, people may experience signs similar to Covid’s, such as fever, fatigue, headache and chills.
DO: Take your second vaccine injection within the recommended time.
Getting a second injection of the vaccine is necessary to make sure you have protection, according to Hotez de Baylor.
“Looking at the data from Phase 1, Phase 2, what I saw with a single dose is that some people had high levels of neutralizing antibodies to the virus, others did not respond,” he said. “So the main reason for the second dose is to get everyone to react. If you only get a single dose, you don’t really know where you are.”
DO: Continue wearing masks and practicing social detachment after your photos.
Continue to wear your masks and practice appropriate social detachment after the first and second doses of the vaccine, says the CDC. The first dose will not produce enough immune response to protect you or others. The second dose should provide approximately 95% protection within one to two weeks after administration, depending on the vaccine.
However, the CDC says that even after you are fully vaccinated, you can still be a silent carrier of the coronavirus.
“We … still don’t know if receiving a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to others,” says the CDC.
Therefore, to protect others, continue to wear a mask over your nose and mouth, stay at least 2 meters away from others, avoid crowded and poorly ventilated spaces and wash your hands frequently for at least 20 full seconds. .
Jacqueline Howard of CNN contributed to this report.