PERSONS with active COVID-19 cases should pause getting vaccinated and wait until they would have recovered as the vaccine will not likely boost one’s immune response against a current infection, a Medical Expert has said.
By Patricia Mashiri
Speaking to HealthTimes, Zimbabwe Association for Doctors for Human Rights (ZADR) president, Dr Norman Matara said even though with with active cases cant be vaccinated, those who would have previously tested positive for COVID-19 should not get vaccinated.
People who got infected with COVID-19 can still get still get vaccinated because we have seen that the antibodies were getting low after several months and people were getting reinfection so you still need to get vaccinated even though you had COVID-19 previously but when you get COVID-19 and you have current infection it is not advisable for you to get vaccinated.
“If You have COVID-19 currently and you have active infection it is better for you to get well first, get treated and then once you recover from that infection you can get vaccinated later on. You cannot get vaccinated once you have current infection,” said Dr Matara.
He added that vaccines work by training the body’s immune system to respond to infections and once vaccinated the body produces antibodies which target the infection that one would have been vaccinated against in this case COVID-19.
“In the event that you get COVID-19 virus you already have the anti-bodies that will neutralize that infection in that case you won’t get seriously ill and chances of dying for the infection are low.”
He however dispelled a myth making rounds on social media suggesting that vaccinated people were super the biggest spreaders since they were asymptomatic.
“Vaccinated people cannot be called super spreaders mainly because vaccination in itself actually decreases the chance of you spreading the infection but have a lower chance of spreading the infection than an unvaccinated person,” he said.
Dr Matara added that there was need to educate and raise more awareness on vaccines that vaccines work by preventing people from getting infections although it is not 100% and it differs with the efficacy of each vaccine.
