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Since the COVID vaccine began to be administered at the end of December, we have all been told that sticking to the recommended schedule between the first and second dose is essential to achieve 95% full protection against the virus. But with the deployment of vaccines amid winter storms that have resulted in delays in vaccine shipments and temporary closures of vaccination sites, this is not always possible. If you are concerned that you may not be able to receive the second injection of your COVID vaccine exactly 21 days after your first dose of Pfizer or 28 days after your first dose of Moderna, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have new advice for you. need to follow. “You should not receive the second dose earlier than the recommended interval,” the agency advises. Read on to find out what you should and shouldn’t do if you can’t stick to the recommended immunization schedule, and for more tips on getting your shots, know that the CDC says don’t. do within 2 weeks of your Covid Vaccine.
The CDC says you have a “grace period” if you absolutely have to get your second dose early.
In its advice to clinicians who administer the vaccine, the CDC clearly says, “People should not be scheduled to receive the second dose earlier than recommended (i.e. 3 weeks [Pfizer-BioNTech] or 1 month [Moderna]). “However, if you are in a situation where you absolutely need to get your second injection early, the agency tells you that you have a grace period of a few days.” Second doses given within a grace period of 4 days earlier than the dates for the second dose are still considered valid, “the CDC guidelines said.
However, if for some reason you get your second photo even earlier (before 17 days for Pfizer or 24 for Moderna), that doesn’t mean you have to restart the process. “Doses that are inadvertently administered before the grace period should not be repeated,” the CDC says. And to learn more about what is not acceptable after the photo is taken, don’t do it until a month after your COVID vaccine, experts warn.
Later may be better than before for your second dose.
Of course, “better late than never” also applies to the second dose of COVID vaccines; but it gets “better later than before,” according to the CDC and other medical experts. Diane griffin, MD, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the Los Angeles Times that she “would personally choose a few days late earlier.”
“Your immune response will work perfectly well if you take more time,” William schaffner, MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told AARP. “But if you do it too early, the second dose may not elicit an optimal response.”
At Walgreens, where Rina Shah | is the vice president of the pharmacy operations and services group, “patients can receive the second dose as long as it follows the immunization window” – the keyword being “follows,” as Shah told NBC News. “We encourage patients to schedule the second appointment closest to the earliest appropriate date, but a little later it’s OK,” Shah said. And if you want to get vaccinated at your local Walgreens pharmacy, check out If you live in these states, you can now get vaccinated at Walgreens.
The CDC says you can wait up to six weeks to get your second injection if needed.
According to the CDC, “If it is not possible to meet the recommended interval and a delay in vaccination is inevitable, the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines can be administered up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose. “
The CDC says there is limited data on the effectiveness of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines given beyond a six-week window. However, once again, the agency warns that “if the second dose is administered beyond these intervals, there is no need to restart the series.” And for more information on COVID delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
But even if it’s over six weeks, there’s no harm in getting that second shot.
“You should get your second shot as close as possible to the recommended 3 week or 1 month interval,” the CDC says. “However, there is no maximum interval between the first and second dose for either vaccine.” This means that even if it’s over six weeks, you should still get that second shot.
Buddy creech, MD, the director of the Vanderbilt vaccine research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, has overseen clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine. Based on what he saw, the vaccine should work even if your second dose is delayed longer than what the CDC recommends. Creech told NBC News that people should “not panic” if they have to stretch the 21 or 28 day interval between doses. “Even though it’s four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks before you can get that second dose, it’s good from an immune system standpoint,” Creech said.
Thomas denny, said the COO of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute American scientist it all comes down to the length of clinical trials, which were shorter in order to get the vaccine approved and delivered to the public as quickly as possible. “You could have done dosage studies for two years, but that wouldn’t be the most responsible thing to do in a world like this,” Denny said. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” And for more on what to expect from your vaccination, find out why the CDC says these 3 side effects mean your vaccine is working.
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