Faced with this scenario, several questions about vaccination arise: After a positive test, when should I get vaccinated? Do I really need to be vaccinated after an infection? My test result came back positive right after the vaccination, should I be concerned?
Check the answers:
I had covid. How long should I wait to take a booster dose?
The Ministry of Health, in a note, said that it did not indicate the use of the COVID-19 immunization device in people showing symptoms of respiratory syndromes. “Ideally, vaccination should be deferred until full clinical recovery, and at least four weeks after the onset of symptoms,” he recommended. “For asymptomatic people, the wait should be four weeks from the first positive PCR or antigen test.”
Isabella Palalai, Vice-President of the Brazilian Society of Immunization (SBIm), highlights that now that the isolation period has ended and “acute” symptoms have disappeared, it is now possible to request a booster. “There was a dry cough and loss of sense of taste. Unfortunately, loss of taste can last for a long time. Once the acute is gone, and when a person is better, they can take any vaccine.”
She says that waiting for symptoms to disappear before taking a dose of the immunizing agent is a way to better monitor the progression of the disease itself.
And about waiting four weeks for a diagnosis to be made, “Today we no longer have that limitation,” Isabella says. Excluding children aged 5-11 years and adolescents.
I was positive right after taking the vaccine, should I worry?
Initially, it is necessary to indicate that the vaccine does not cause disease, that is, you may have been infected previously. “If you take the vaccine and find you have the virus, don’t worry, nothing will happen to you,” Isabella says.
Do I need to take a booster dose even after I have an infection?
yes. Some people believe that after infection they are already fully protected. Isabella Palalai points out that this is not true.
“We have evidence that immunity to disease is not sustainable either. Including some evidence that people who have been infected with Ômicron are reinfected within 20 or 30 days afterward,” he explains.
Why is it important to take a booster dose?
The application of booster doses is ahead of studies showing that over time, neutralizing antibody levels decrease. “We have verified that, after about four months, it is necessary to have a booster dose to ensure less circulation of the virus and to increasingly protect the patient from infection with the most severe disease state,” explained Arnaldo Correia de Medeiros, the secretary. Health Monitoring at the Ministry of Health, at a press conference on Monday, 20th.
Isabella highlights that reinforcement becomes more important at a time when there are new variants, BA.4 and BA.5, in circulation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), they carry a mutation that appears to be associated with greater transmissibility and immune escape – either from a previous infection or from a vaccine.
Leon Ferrari
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