SACRAMENTO, Calif — Despite having recovered from the coronavirus vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends people who had COVID-19 still get the COVID-19 vaccine, but not too soon, depending on the treatment received.
The CDC recommends waiting 90 days to get the COVID-19 vaccine if a person recovered from a COVID-19 infection and was treated with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma.
According to the CDC, those two treatment methods and their interactions with the current coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have not yet been studied. Until more information is available about how these treatments could interact with the vaccine, the CDC says it is best to wait.
The full effect of what could happen is currently unknown, but the CDC said if someone doesn't wait for the 90 days, their immune response could be affected for potential reinfection of SARS-CoV-2.
The CDC said people who tested positive, having only mild symptoms, and were not treated for the coronavirus should wait until their doctor-recommended isolation period is over before getting the vaccine.
The CDC recognized that people who received the vaccine have died, like the person in Placer County who died after receiving the coronavirus vaccine and testing positive for COVID-19 a month prior. Placer County officials have not yet reported what treatments the person received or if the person's death was related to the vaccination or previous infection. The CDC said these cases are rare.
"It’s important to remember that many adverse events, including death, following immunization, are often coincidental – meaning that while an adverse event may happen after getting vaccinated, the vaccine is not always the cause of it," a spokesperson for the CDC said in an email.
