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
Can I take the second shot two weeks early?
None of the studies looked at getting the second dose earlier than recommended. In fact, more recent research suggests a delayed second shot might even lead to a higher response than the recommended interval. So, no, you should not get the second shot early.
Can vaccinated people be masking confirmed cases by being asymptomatic? Vaccinated people would not have a reason to get tested, which will affect confirmed cases reported. To some degree wouldn’t the reduction in cases be false?
You are technically correct. If we do not test asymptomatic vaccinated people they would not count as a positive case.
Similarly though we don’t routinely test asymptomatically unvaccinated people unless they are part of a routine screening program.
Big picture -- I see your point, but in terms of best use of testing -- because vaccinated people are so much less likely to be positive we wouldn’t be missing a meaningful number of positives.
Can a fully vaccinated grandmother allow a 9-year-old grandchild to spend the night?
If you are fully vaccinated your risk of becoming infected is definitely low.
The 9-year-old is not eligible to be vaccinated so the question really becomes one of acceptable risk. If the grandmother doesn’t have any risk for severe disease beyond age and the grandchild isn’t sick and has no known recent exposures I’d say that’s the safest circumstance.
Do the vaccines harm organs or attack the immune system so you die in about 10 years? Does the immune system go into overdrive and doesn’t slow down after being vaccinated? An anti-vaxxer told me without information on where those claims came from.
Those claims are untrue and unsupported by any evidence. If someone can’t give you the source of the claims they’re making that’s generally a red flag. So far, the data points to the vaccines being very safe and effective.
I understand there’s a change in how variants will be named going forward?
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that rather than use names tied to regions of the world, when a variant is important enough to be considered a concern it will be referred to by a designated Greek letter. This is to avoid stigmatizing the geographic reference.