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
I received Moderna vaccine No. 1 and No. 2 in Florida. Will I be able to get the booster when it is available to me in Michigan? I am 78 years old.
Yes. There will be no problem getting your booster in Michigan when you’re eligible. Just bring your vaccine card to the pharmacy of your choice so they can note which vaccine you received and confirm that it was eight months ago.
I fall into the category of immunosuppressed and received my second Moderna vaccine on April 29, 2021. Do I need to wait until December to get my booster? My husband feels I should get it now. I read you need to wait eight months. Please help.
If you are moderately or severely immunocompromised you do not need to wait eight months to get a third dose. The minimum time between the second and third dose for the immunocompromised is at least 28 days and you are well past that.
Why do we never hear about anything for people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? There is never any talk on a booster. Can we get a booster of Pfizer?
Federal health officials say it’s likely that those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will need a booster as well. They are still analyzing the data on that vaccine. Expect guidance for Johnson & Johnson recipients in the coming weeks.
There are two reasons that the research on the Johnson & Johnson shot has lagged behind that of the mRNA vaccines. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was not authorized in the U.S. until March. The data collection is a couple months behind that of Pfizer and Moderna.
The other reason is that U.S. health officials are also using international data to help guide them. Israel has been a leader in vaccinated their population quickly and collecting extensive follow-up data. Israel is administering the Pfizer vaccine, giving us more insight on the mRNA shots.
Do you have to wait eight months for the booster vaccine? Why not now since it’s available?
Unless you are moderately or severely immunocompromised the current recommendation is to wait eight months because that is the point at which some new research suggests immunity levels may begin to fall.
My husband is older than 65, diabetic and has high blood pressure. Is he considered immunocompromised and qualify to get the third COVID vaccine immediately?
Diabetes and high blood pressure are not among the conditions that qualify for a third dose immediately. While those conditions do raise the risk of COVID complications if he became infected, they would not have reduced the ability of his immune system to respond sufficiently to the first two doses.
I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April. Can I get the Moderna vaccine as a booster? I do not wish to have another Johnson & Johnson dose.
Guidance for those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not been issued yet, because the data is still being analyzed. While health officials will likely recommend getting a booster from the same vaccine for the Johnson & Johnson recipients as well. If you don’t wish to, one of the mRNA vaccines would be an alternative.
When get our booster vaccine do we have to get the same one we got for the first vaccine? Or can we get either Moderna of Pfizer?
The CDC is recommending that people get a third dose of the vaccine they received originally, if that’s possible. There are some studies in progress on the impact of mixing and matching, but that research is not yet finished.
The booster shots are the same doses that are already widely available. Health officials are not expecting shortages as people become eligible to get them.
There is more data being collected every day and more and more analysis being done and that will naturally change the guidance that’s being given.
The rapid spread of the delta variant has changed a lot of what we thought we knew. We are living in the midst of a pandemic with a novel virus.
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