Covid vaccinations

[sarahdollygirl]

I live in France and have Churg Strauss. I am to get my first Covid vaccination on tuesday, at last! My specialist has said I should have 3 in all. Has anyone else had this??

[Main1234]

Hi in the UK it’s only 2 vaccines four -12 weeks apart depending on medication . Are they thinking about the possible booster vaccine in the Autumn?

[May7]

I have Churg Strauss, and the usual here for everybody is to have 2 doses, up to 12 weeks apart. I had my second dose of Pfizer yesterday, 11 weeks after first.As Main said, they are considering boosters later, but nothing definite announced yet.

[PMRpro]

I think it is likely that there will be a follow-up booster vaccine - it will depend on at least 2 factors, how long the immune response lasts and how much the virus mutates and whether the first vaccine you receive protects against the current common variants. That is being looked at and developments are almost certainly ongoing in the lab,

There are people who are taking Pfizer-BioNTech's comment about the need for a third shot as a negative thing - I see it as very realistic and sensible. But it will have to be created and manufactured first. Your doctor does seem comfortably forward looking!

[EGPAGuy]

I also have churg have been told to expect at least 3 vaccinations. My view is any protection even 1% is better than none. Had my second Pfizer yesterday

[Mal06]

Hi I’ve had mine in UK & it was TWO. But suppose it depends what vaccine you are being given. Most that have been developed & approved for use (in UK, Europe & USA) are all 2 injections usually 21/28 days apart (* see below). Apart from Johnson & Johnson (or known as Jansen) which is only 1 injection. We’ve mainly been using the Astra veneca/Oxford vaccine or the pfizer one (both 2 injections) but decision was made to do *UP TO 12 weeks apart, to vaccinate more people at least once (high immunity from 1st injection after 28 days around 60-90%. More recently we’ve also had moderna approved & have a smaller supply coming g through, again will be up to 12 weeks apart as 2 injections again. So as said will depend on which vaccine your getting. But must admit I’ve not heard of any that have been approved that are 3 injections. Perhaps for some reason your specialist is thinking to go more i he too s to increase your immune system. To my knowledge there is no research findings that say this would be the case. There is possibly going to be a ‘booster’ shot later in year (perhaps after 6 months or so) to boost our systems as at moment they have no idea how long the vaccine will last. Trials are going on here to see how the vaccine works for people like us who have suppressed immune systems....it’s unknown if we get as much immunity as ‘fit’ people. But we’ll be waiting g a while to know yet. Mind you it doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t get covid even if vaccinated, just hope it’ll be milder. Good luck on Tuesday. All the best. Stay safe.

[John_Mills Volunteer]

The scientists and doctors in France seem to be moving in this direction and coincidentally I received an email on this subject only yesterday.

Here in the U.K. it is still recommended to have the two doses. But there is discussion regarding having a booster dose later in the year but nothing has been confirmed yet.

“While COVID-19 vaccination might provide a lower level of protection in people who are immunosuppressed or immunocompromised compared with the rest of the population, it is still very important that you get vaccinated as it will offer you a certain amount of protection against catching COVID-19. It is important that you receive two doses of the vaccine to maximise the protection that vaccination offers you.”