DETROIT – Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Dr. Frank McGeorge has been keeping viewers up-to-date and informed on all fronts. He’s been answering your questions about the vaccine, the vaccination process and more.
READ: More answers to questions about coronavirus
My son was infected in early February and was fully recovered. Just now, his roommate was tested positive and my son is showing symptoms, mainly coughing. Since he’s still within three months of his last positive test, should he still take a COVID test? Should he be quarantined?
While it’s rare for someone to be reinfected within that three-month window, it can happen. I would recommend your son get tested and quarantine until those results come back.
My brother-in-law had a fairly decent case of COVID. He was not hospitalized but it lingered for more than two weeks (fever, cough). He received the first dose but read that the second isn’t necessary due to the intensity of actual virus. Have you heard or read any data related to this?
The recommendation is to get both doses. While a natural infection gives you immunity to a number of antigens on the coronavirus surface, the vaccine gives specific protection against the most important spike protein and will likely extend his immunity.
I had my first dose and a week later I tested positive. Due to some underlying conditions I was given the Bamlanivimab And Etesevimab infusion and was told that I have to wait 90 days to get vaccinated. So does that mean I have to start over with the initial dose?
I’m glad that you received the monoclonal antibodies. Your situation falls into an odd grey area. Generally, we want the second dose given within six weeks of the first. Yours will be more than 12 weeks out. But you also had a natural COVID infection in the meantime. My opinion is that you should just get the second dose after the 90 day waiting period.
Since vaccines have been approved for emergency use by the FDA, people are concerned that it has not really been approved. How can you reassure them? When do you expect they will be approved beyond emergency use?
The Emergency Use Authorization was given using essentially the same trial data that will be used for full approval.
The only thing missing is longer-term follow-up. Now that the vaccines have been given to millions of people without any serious adverse effect signals, I fully expect that full FDA approval will occur without any difficulty once the full standard dataset is completed.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he hopes the full approval of the vaccines will come very soon. Something that will be reassuring to the public at large.