COVID questions: Can I get two different types of vaccines?
Editor’s note: We will be publishing answers to questions about COVID-19 and the pandemic each week in this COVID questions column. If you have a question, please email it to covid19update@uc.wisc.edu.
Q: If the science now says that once you have COVID-19 and are recovered you have at least several months of immunity, why are those people not told to wait to get vaccinated and let those who have not had COVID-19 go first? Wouldn’t this save more lives and stem the pandemic faster?
A: Scientifically this is likely to be a sound approach; but in feasibility, this is a nightmare. We have people who have been infected and detected and those infected, but never assessed. In addition, there is no hard-and-fast period of time that renders someone susceptible or not. Finally, prior infection may not connote as much protection as new variants of SARS-CoV-2 are emerging.
– Jonathan L. Temte, MD/PhDAssociate Dean for Public Health and Community Engagement, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Q: If a person gets, say, the J&J vaccine can they later get the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine? And how long will they have to wait to get the second vaccine?
A: There are no studies at this time to assess either the safety or the effectiveness of following one vaccine with another at a later time. Accordingly, there is currently no guidance for these questions.
– Jonathan L. Temte, MD/PhDAssociate Dean for Public Health and Community Engagement, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Q: Where do we stand on COVID-19 vaccines?
A: As we approach two months since COVID-19 vaccinations began locally and across the nation, it continues to be the issue on most people’s minds.
- According to estimates, there are more than 60 COVID-19 vaccines in development, with two approved for emergency use and more presumably on the way.
- Eligibility guidelines have been updated to include approximately 1.6 million people in Wisconsin alone.
- New variants of the disease are popping up around the world and increasingly the nation. While most seem to respond to the existing vaccines, there are reported variations in response that are under further study.
As public health authorities and health systems work to distribute and deliver the existing supply of vaccine, it is important to remember that vaccines supply is still very limited, and it will take months to vaccinate the current group of eligible people in Wisconsin.
– UW Health
For more COVID-19 resources, visit coronavirus.uwhealth.org
See more answers to COVID questions at https://news.wisc.edu/tag/covid-questions/. Also, visit our COVID-19 impact site.
