WASHINGTON — QUESTION:
Should you avoid getting other vaccines right before or after getting your COVID shot?
ANSWER:
Yes.
SOURCES:
- Dr. Siham Mahgoub, Medical Director for Center of Infectious Diseases Management and Research (CIDMAR) at Howard University Hospital and College of Medicine
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- "Your COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment"
PROCESS:
Annette Jackson from Bowie, Maryland, sent the Verify team his question: “I took my Shingles vaccine about two weeks ago. Is it safe to take the COVID-19 vaccine and when should I take it?”
She's not the only one. Other viewers asked us the same thing about flu shots.
So let's Verify: Should you avoid getting other vaccines right before or after getting your COVID shot?
Our sources are Dr. Siham Mahgoub, an infectious diseases expert from Howard University, and the CDC.
“So the recommendation is to not get any vaccine to at least two weeks before your COVID vaccine," Mahgoub said. "Now COVID is the priority. I know it's the flu season, they might need a tetanus shot, they might need a pneumonia shot. But now we are living in a pandemic, the most important shot is the COVID shot to get first before the other vaccinations.”
It’s the same on the backend, Dr. Mahgoub explained, saying you should wait two weeks before you’re ready to get those other important shots.
The CDC agrees -- right now it’s at least a two-week waiting period on both ends.
"Wait at least 14 days before getting any other vaccine, including a flu or shingles vaccine, after you get your COVID-19 vaccine," the agency writes. "Or if you get any other vaccine first, wait at least 14 days before getting your COVID-19 vaccine."
If you didn’t wait before or after getting your COVID shot, they say you don’t need to be revaccinated.
"When we have more data on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines given at the same time as other vaccines, CDC may update this recommendation," CDC says.
So we can that currently, it's recommended to wait at least two weeks before and after COVID-19 vaccination to receive other immunizations.
