During the weeks leading up to someone's second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, it is still possible to contract the virus.
Everyone who gets the vaccine must answer a checklist to determine if there’s any reason you shouldn’t get the vaccine.
One of the questions asks: Have you ever had a positive test for COVID-19 or has a doctor ever told you that you had COVID-19?
THE QUESTION
Do you need to restart your vaccine if you contract COVID-19 between doses?
THE SOURCES
Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
THE ANSWER
No, you do not have to restart your vaccine if you contract COVID-19 between doses. You would need to self-isolate for 10 days and reschedule if your appointment is set to take place while you're still contagious.
WHAT WE FOUND
If you catch COVID-19 between your two doses, you should self-isolate for at least 10 days just as you would if you had it without any vaccine shots.
"You're OK to get your second dose, but you want to make sure that you're not contagious to the people that are vaccinating you," Adalja said.
If your second dose is supposed to happen while you're still contagious, you would want to reschedule so that it's been at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared.
Ideally, you want to get the second dose of your Pfizer vaccine within three weeks of the first dose and within four weeks for the Moderna vaccine.
However, both of these second doses are still considered effective up to six weeks from the first dose, according to the CDC.
"You don't have to start your two-dose series over if you're late," Adalja said. "You'll get that benefit, just a little bit later. There's nothing to worry about if you get COVID between doses. You can still get your second dose. And get protected."