If I caught the coronavirus and recovered, Can i get vaccinated?; Is it necessary to do it?; How long I have to wait? These three questions were some of the most frequent queries that arise in the Argentine population after the advance of the vaccination campaign. The current recommendation of the Ministry of Health of the Nation –as stated on its website– is that those who recently had the disease, must wait between three and six months to receive the first dose of the vaccine. However, according to the official explanation, it is not a decision related to the effectiveness of the inoculation, but rather to the administration of the vaccines in a context of scarcity.
But why is that time span suggested? “People who had covid-19 are going to generate antibodies, and those antibodies put them in an advantageous situation compared to other people, because have more than 88 percent protection against possible reinfection”, He explained to Página / 12 Omar Sued, President of the Argentine Society of Infectology (SADI).
And he added: “For this reason, in Argentina it has been decided to propose vaccinating people who already had Covid-19, starting 90 days after discharge, because during the first four or six months – even now some articles show that up to eight -, the antibodies continue to be detectable and protective”. That is, in that period of time, reinfections are very unlikely.
“What is emphasized is that, from a public health point of view, it is better for that person to wait the three months, so that the available vaccine makes more sense in another person who does not have antibodies yet,” Sued emphasized.
Asked about whether there is some danger for those who want to be vaccinated before the recommended time, the president of SADI explained: “There is no biological contraindication, it is not that the vaccine is going to hurt you”. As an example, he maintained that “if a person decides to travel to the United States, two or three days after being cured, and wants to be vaccinated, he can do so.”
However, it is necessary to bear in mind that from the portfolio commanded by Carla Vizzotti it is recommended to wait between three and six months if the patient received convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibodies, to avoid its interference in the immune response induced by the vaccine.
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