After priority Ohio populations including frontline workers and the elderly were offered the COVID-19 vaccine opportunity earlier this year, the general population can now get immunized, with all Ohioans over 16 years of age eligible for the vaccine effective Monday, March 29.
The shot, however, is not an instant magic switch to immunity, reminds Dr. Gary Grosel, chief medical officer at UnitedHealthcare of Ohio.
With the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being two-stage processes and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a one-and-done shot, Grosel says that someone isn't considered immune until two weeks after the second shot if receiving it from the former, and two weeks after the singular Johnson & Johnson shot.
"After you get your first shot, you really should do nothing different from when you hadn't been vaccinated yet," Grosel told the Mount Vernon News. "You aren't considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after the second shot."
He further noted that the two-week incubation window to a fully vaccinated and immunized state is also applicable to the one Johnson & Johnson shot.
The medical field is frequently hearing misconceptions from the public, particularly from people who still contract the virus despite having gotten the vaccination, Grosel said. This is largely due to people considering themselves immune immediately after getting the shot.
The two-week window was determined after vaccine trials with the Centers for Disease Control. After 10 to 14 days, the trial-vaccine receivers had the appropriate amount of antibodies in their system to be considered immune.
After one is considered fully immune, the CDC permits them to begin gathering indoors with other fully vaccinated people without social distancing, Grosel said. But gathering with unvaccinated or immunocompromised people is still not recommended.
The message to the public is simple: keep on social distancing until you cross that two-week finish line. Continue to wear a mask, practice personal hygienic protection measures and avoid large groups until the second vaccine has been circulating your system for two weeks.
"Be smart, take those steps to protect yourself (and) to protect others," Grosel said. "You know, wear the masks, six feet apart, avoid those medium- and large-size crowds of people you don't really know."
