WASHINGTON — Health officials continue to emphasize that vaccines and boosters remain the best protection against omicron. But after you get the shot: How long until your body reaches full protection?
Our experts said it varies person to person. But, in the case of both vaccines and the booster, full protection doesn’t happen right away.
QUESTION:
How long does it take for the vaccines and boosters to take effect?
OUR SOURCES:
ANSWER:
While the timeline varies person to person, experts believe it is around two weeks for full protection.
WHAT WE FOUND:
After you get the shot or the booster when does your immune system react?
“Your body starts responding to the booster almost immediately,” Dr. Beyrer said. “You're seeing some real benefit in terms of increased protection by about three to five days.”
“That process of increasing neutralizing antibodies starts as soon as you give that booster,” Dr. Poland added.
Both experts said the time it takes for your immune system to rev up to full protection will vary person to person. But they have a general idea of when most people will get there.
“People argue sometimes whether it's 10 days, 14 days, but 14 days is a good rule of thumb,” Dr. Poland said.
“The best level of protection of full protection at about two weeks,” Dr. Beyrer agreed.
So we can Verify: While your body begins building up immune defenses immediately, full protection from the vaccine or a booster is about two weeks after injection.
Both of experts wanted to point one thing out about the protection: You can still get a COVID19 infection despite full protection or having gotten the booster.
The reason is the main purpose of the vaccines was to prevent severe disease or hospitalization. Which recent studies show the vaccines continue to do at a remarkable rate.