Information is critical when it comes to the coronavirus vaccines, and it can sometimes be challenging to find the answers to your specific questions.
Our resident Dr. Frank McGeorge is here to help, answering your questions about the virus and vaccines. (You can submit your questions below.)
Looking for COVID-19 vaccines in Metro Detroit: Track openings, clinics, appointments
I am a type II diabetic and have recently began injecting insulin. Should I be concerned about taking the COVID-19 vaccine?
No -- in fact, your diabetes puts you in a higher risk category if you were to contract COVID. So getting vaccinated should be an even higher priority for you.
What are you supposed to do if you miss your second vaccine dose? The place I got the first dose is no longer giving shots, and I’m having a terrible time getting it scheduled anywhere else.
If you aren’t able to get your second coronavirus vaccine dose from the same site where you got your first dose, I recommend calling your county health department right away and explaining the situation. Many viewers have struggled to schedule a second dose through automated systems, and you really need to talk to a human being to get it sorted out.
It’s extremely important not to miss your second dose appointment, unless it’s a true emergency or you’ve been quarantined. If you must miss it, start working to reschedule that second dose immediately.
The CDC guidance states that once fully vaccinated, we are able to meet with a single unvaccinated household, unmasked and indoors. In the cases of multiple grandchildren (who are too young to receive a vaccine) from different households, is it OK to meet with these children at different times, so long as no more than one unvaccinated household is present at each visit?
Yes -- you are interpreting the CDC advice correctly.
The risk of mixing unvaccinated households is that those who are unvaccinated could expose each other to the virus. If you’re seeing your grandkids from different households separately, you’ve eliminated that risk.
Can gather indoors without a mask with a group of people who are fully vaccinated? Is the risk too high with all the variants? I care for a fully vaccinated elderly woman with health issues, and I worry about variant exposure to her.
It is OK to gather unmasked if everyone is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The presence of virus variants does change the risk a little, but getting vaccinated is the best thing you can do to minimize that risk.
If there is still concern because someone is at an extremely high risk, wearing a mask is another layer you can add to reduce the risk even more.
Have you ever heard of the second dose of a COVID vaccine causing a false positive rapid test result four days later? I got a rapid test just to be safe, and was shocked when it came back positive.
The coronavirus vaccine cannot cause a COVID nasal swab to become positive.
If you test positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated, you should treat that positive test as an actual COVID infection.
Related: What does being fully vaccinated against COVID really look like?
Read more