Doctors Say COVID Vaccine Not A Reason To Let Guard Down Just Yet
LAGUNA WOODS (CBSLA) — With more and more people getting their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, doctors Wednesday warned that now was not the time for people to let their guard down.
"I would ask them to please, please be patient," Dr. Adam Solomon, chief medical officer at MemorialCare Medical Group, said. "That first vaccine dose is just the start. Afterwards, it takes your body a few weeks to start to make antibodies and have an immune response to the virus."
Solomon said it takes at least three weeks after the second shot, administered a few weeks after the first, for the body to produce full immunity.
"I don't know what the protection is after the first, other than it gives you a sense of comfort," Frank Irving, who was out golfing Wednesday, said. "I don't know what it is, but I did feel a sense of relief, comfort."
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And while most vaccine recipients, especially seniors, said they were still being cautious, some were reportedly making plans to resume their normal activities and social plans.
Doctors said mask wearing and social distancing were still a must, even if people have received the vaccine as new, more contagious, COVID-19 strains have been reported in Southern California where intensive care units remained at capacity.
"I'm very cautious," Joan Delucie, who received the first dose of the vaccine, said. "I still continue to wear my mask, and we still, sort of, stay home most of the time."
Studies were still being done to determine whether those who have been vaccinated can still transmit the disease.
