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Jeruba's avatar

What happens if you have covid-19 but don't know it yet, and you get the vaccine?

Asked by Jeruba (56031points) January 31st, 2021

Does getting the vaccine when you’re infected (but undiagnosed) change the way you respond to the vaccine?

Unless you take a test with practically instant results and in a known safe environment, how can you be sure you’re not sick when you get the vaccine? And does it make a difference?

Is this a risk associated with vaccination that we should be considering?

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13 Answers

janbb's avatar

They ask you questions about your possible exposure and symptoms before they will give you the vaccine. However if you have a concern that you might have it, it makes sense to get a test before going for the vaccine. Or use the pulse oximeter to help reassure yourself.

I realize there is a second part of your question about the risk involved and I don’t know the answer to that. I imagine Caravanfan would be the person on here to know it.

JLeslie's avatar

Since there is no requirement to have a negative test it stands to reason there are no extra concerns if you are currently presymptomatic or asymptomatic to getting the vaccine. If you are presymptomatic the vaccine likely won’t do much to help you fight the virus since your body won’t have had time for the vaccine to really take effect.

The reason people who had covid are told to wait 90 days is to let those with no immunity get the vaccine first. As it should be in my opinion.

Also, if someone was exposed to covid they are supposed to quarantine, not be out getting a shot.

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional.

si3tech's avatar

Regarding flu vaccines, I know one of tthe questions they ask is are you well now.

AK's avatar

I belong to a country where most of the infections are asymptomatic (which means infected people do not fall ill or get adversely affected). We’ve just started to realize the asymptomatic nature of our infections, with the world opening up and international travel, sporting events happening. People who travel or play sports have to undergo mandatory tests and that has shown that many of us (who thought we were not infected), actually caught the virus at some point and obliviously lived through its gestation period perfectly normally! Its traces still show up when we get the tests done today but those remnants are benign and won’t cause spreading. We’ve just started mass vaccination in our country and as long as you are adequately healthy (with no major preexisting ailments), you are eligible for a shot. It doesn’t matter if you have been infected or not…or lived through an asymptomatic cycle….you can safely get the vaccine shot, without any risks. That said, there are many other unanswered questions about the efficacy of the vaccines….but that’s another story for another question, I guess….

Pandora's avatar

I would think it may be useless depending on which vaccine you get. One vaccine is to prevent Covid from giving you medium to severe symptoms. You will still get it but milder. I’m not sure how long before it works.
The one with that you have to wait 2 weeks before taking the second shot they said it can take up to 2 weeks after the second shot before your immune system will develop a strong response to the virus. So I would imagine that at best the shot may help make the symptoms milder and at worse it does nothing to protect you until 2 weeks after the second shot.

JLeslie's avatar

@Pandora Pfizer is 3 weeks between shots. Moderna is 4 weeks between shots. JNJ is the single shot and the one that prevented severe disease, and had a lower efficacy rate of preventing disease than the other two, but it also prevented disease more than the placebo group.

Pfizer has stats out that it’s 53% effective after the 1st shot, and Moderna saying about 80% after first shot, but yeah the shot needs time to work to reach full immunity, meaning as much immunity as you will get from that shot.

Also, and this is just me thinking out loud here, as far as I know people were not purposely exposed to covid in any of the studies. I know one of the testing locations for Moderna was here where I live. We have had low infection in the community until recently, so less opportunity to catch it compared to other cities during the time of the phase testing.

@ALL Interesting article that explains the immunity more from the vaccines. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210114-covid-19-how-effective-is-a-single-vaccine-dose

Caravanfan's avatar

No, it won’t change the way you respond to the vaccine. You should still get it.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Caravanfan's avatar

The above post is dangerously wrong, and I flagged it.

janbb's avatar

@Caravanfan Ty. I didn’t have the energy to argue with it.

My question for today is: I know I’ll still be taking all the precautions after the second shot but if I’ve got the two vaccines and after the wait period and friends have done the same, is there any harm in visiting or even eating at each other’s house? What could be the danger?

Caravanfan's avatar

@janbb The danger is you could catch covid. It’s not 100%. You can visit with masks on and eat outside.

Caravanfan's avatar

@mods, thank you for removing it.

janbb's avatar

@Caravanfan We did all summer and Fall but we’re not in California and it’s freezing in New Jersey with 8 inches of snow. I hear what you are saying though.

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