By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Updated 8:40 AM ET, Mon
January 25, 2021
How the digital divide
is impacting online learning amid pandemic
(CNN)It's an all-out sprint to get Americans
vaccinated against the deadly novel coronavirus. As you prepare to get your
shot, here are 10 actions experts suggest doing -- and avoiding.
DO: Get your vaccine when it's your turn.
It's chaos as older people struggle to get a Covid-19
vaccine. Here is what you can do
You should be able to find out when it's your turn
to be vaccinated and how to register in your neighborhood by reaching out to
your state or local health department. CNN has created a list of state websites, emails and
phone numbers for all 50 states and territories. Check there for
information on available vaccine registrations in your local area.
DON'T: Let disinformation on vaccines cloud
your judgment.
Social media is rife with disinformation about both Covid-19 and
the vaccines that are available to prevent it.
Here's how some of the leading coronavirus vaccines work
If you have doubts about the vaccine, get educated -- the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is just one of many trusted
organizations with vetted, science-based facts about
the virus and available vaccines.
Pharmacist Preston Young administers a Moderna Covid-19
vaccination during a drive-thru clinic on January 13 in Santa Rosa, California.
DO: Get vaccinated if you've already had
Covid-19.
Reinfection with Covid-19 is definitively possible, the CDC
says, so everyone needs to get a coronavirus vaccination, including those who
have already had the illness.
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Note: If you were given monoclonal antibodies or convalescent
plasma while sick with Covid-19, you should wait 90 days after treatment before
getting the vaccine, the CDC advises. Check
with your doctor before scheduling the shot.
DON'T: Get a shot if you currently have
Covid-19 or have been exposed.
If you have tested positive for Covid-19 or been exposed to
someone who has the illness, you should not go to the vaccination site to get
your shot until your symptoms and isolation period have passed, said Dr.
Michael Ison, a professor in the division of infectious diseases and organ
transplantation at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
Your home is a hotspot for Covid-19, studies say
"Quite simply, you don't want to get people who are waiting
in line sick. You don't want to get the health care staff sick," Ison
said.
DO: Get the shot even if you still have Covid
symptoms months later.
A growing number of people are becoming coronavirus
"long-haulers" -- people who continue to suffer fatigue, brain fog,
aches, pains, headaches and more for months after the virus has left their
systems.
Don't let your ongoing reactions keep you from getting the shot,
said vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean at
the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston.
Redefining Covid-19: Months after infection, patients
report breathing difficulty, excessive fatigue
"We think long-haul symptoms are not due to active virus
infection, but to prolonged inflammatory responses to the virus," Hotez
said.
DON'T: Get another type of vaccine within 14
days of the Covid-19 shot.
Wait at least 14 days before or after getting another vaccine,
including a flu or shingles shot, to get a Covid-19 vaccination, the CDC says.
However, if you inadvertently did get another vaccine within
that two-week time frame, you should complete the Covid-19 series on schedule.
As more information on how vaccines interact becomes available, the CDC says it may update this
guidance.
DO: Tell vaccine staff about any allergies or
past allergic reactions.
It's rare, but a few people have had moderate-to-severe allergic
reactions after being given the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines, so be sure to
tell the nurse at the vaccination site about any past allergic reactions.
Covid cases remain lowest among younger children, even
after schools reopened, study says
If you do have a history of immediate or severe allergic
reactions to vaccines or other injections, try to have an EpiPen on
hand, said Dr. Saju Mathew, an Atlanta-based primary care physician and public
health specialist.
DON'T: Drive away before your 15- to 30-minute
wait is up.
The CDC requires that everyone receiving a coronavirus
vaccination wait 15 minutes in their car before driving away. If you have a
history of severe allergic reactions, you'll be required to wait 30 minutes in
your car to be sure you're safe to drive. Both are a minor inconvenience,
experts say, compared to the dangers of an adverse reaction of dizziness or
worse while driving.
If you have a serious reaction after leaving the vaccination
site call 911, the CDC suggests. All reactions can be reported to a smartphone-based app called V-safe or
the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS.
Common reactions to the vaccine are soreness and swelling at the
injection site. Sometimes, more typically after the second shot, people may
experience such Covid-like signs as fever, fatigue, headache and chills.
DO: Get your second shot of vaccine within the
recommended time frame.
Getting a second shot of the vaccine is needed to be sure that
you have protection, according to Baylor's Hotez.
"In looking at the Phase 1, Phase 2 data, what I saw with a
single dose is some people had high levels of virus-neutralizing antibody, others
were nonresponders," he said. "So the major reason for the second
dose is to get everybody to respond. If you just get a single dose, you don't
really know where you stand."
More vaccines could be coming soon and they could be a
big boost to the rollout
Pfizer-BioNTech doses should be given 21 days apart, the CDC
says, while the second dose of Moderna is administered 28 days after the first.
Do not get your second dose early, but if you have trouble scheduling, waiting
a few days after the due date -- and perhaps longer --
for either vaccine should not be an issue, the CDC says.
DO: Continue wearing masks and practicing
social distancing after your shots.
Continue to wear your masks and practice appropriate social
distancing after both your first and second doses of vaccine, the CDC says. The
first dose will not produce enough of an immune response to protect you or
others. The second dose should provide approximately 95% protection within one
to two weeks after administration, depending on the vaccine.
However, the CDC says, even after you are fully vaccinated you
may still be a silent carrier of the coronavirus.
"We ... don't yet know whether getting a COVID-19 vaccine
will prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to other
people," the CDC says.
So to protect others, continue to wear a mask over your nose and
mouth, stay at least 6 feet away from others, avoid crowds and crowded and
poorly ventilated spaces, and wash your hands often for at least 20 full
seconds.
CNN's Jacqueline Howard contributed to this
report.
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