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 someone get tested for antibodies to determine their resistance to COVID-19? Is there a numerical scale that doctors go by to measure a patient’s strength against the virus?
Antibody tests are only useful to screen for prior exposures or vaccination. At present, there is no number -- technically called a titre -- done outside of research settings that is accepted as a marker of protection.
If a person gets and recovers from the omicron COVID strain, is that person then protected from delta and original COVID?
Infection by the virus, regardless of the variant, induces antibody protection against many different proteins on the coronavirus. That broad-based protection will provide coverage against other variants as well. The issue is that the degree and duration of protection from an infection is not well known right now -- so vaccination is also still recommended.
With the omicron variant having so many mutations making it so different from the delta variant -- is it possible for a person to get both variants at the same time? Can our vaccines and booster shots protect us against this?
The technical answer to your question is yes. It is theoretically possible to get infected with two variants at the same time. But that’s generally going to be unlikely since you’re most likely to be infected by a single individual who would most likely only have one variant replicating in their body. The vaccines won’t specifically protect you against an infection by multiple variants simultaneously, but will protect you from an infection in general.
I’ve had 1st and 2nd vaccine which were Pfizer and just scheduled booster to be Moderna. Is it better to have all of the same vaccine or better to have two different ones?
It’s a matter of personal choice at this point. The best reason in my mind to get a different vaccine as a booster is to give your immune system exposure to a broader range of formulations to train it.
I’m in Arizona. Would I be better off staying here for several weeks rather than go back to Michigan?
It’s true that as a state, Michigan is in a larger surge right now than Arizona. You really need to consider the counties you will be in specifically.
Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage
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