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Q: I got my COVID-19 vaccine! Now what?

A

: First and foremost, congrats! You have joined millions of Americans who have been immunized against COVID-19.

Like you, many are asking the same question: Now what?

Let’s first talk about what vaccine you may have received. The FDA has approved three vaccines to get you immunized: one each from Pfizer; Moderna; and Johnson & Johnson.

If you were told when you got vaccinated to come back for a second dose, you got a vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna. If you got a single dose with no need to return for a second, you got one from Johnson & Johnson. If you aren’t sure which you received, check the COVID-19 vaccination record card you received with your shot. The notes on the card will tell you what vaccine you got and when you got it.

If you got Pfizer, you probably got two shots about three weeks apart. If you got Moderna, you probably got two shots about a month apart. Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, requires just one shot.

Regardless of which vaccine you received, it takes two full weeks after your final shot — the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson — for the vaccines to be completely effective and for you to be considered fully vaccinated.

Let’s talk about what you can and can’t do once two weeks have elapsed since your last shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers these recommendations for people who are fully vaccinated:

—You can spend time with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks (within limitations set by your state and the CDC).

—You can gather with unvaccinated people from one other household, such as your extended family, as long as both households live only with each other.

—If you are exposed to someone with COVID-19, you will not need to self-isolate or get tested unless you develop symptoms.

You should still:

—Use face masks and stay six feet away from others when in public.

—Follow the same face and distance precautions when you spend time with people from multiple households or with people who are at a higher risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19.

—Watch out for symptoms and get tested if you start experiencing them.

Remember, you are not considered immune until two weeks after your final dose, so keep social-distancing and mask-wearing as you normally do until then. And keep in mind that at this time the CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people continue to wear masks and socially distance in public because there is a possibility that the virus can be transmitted to unvaccinated people.

Chinmay Bondugula is a third-year Pharm.D. student at VCU School of Pharmacy. He studied biomedical sciences at University of Central Florida. After graduation he plans to pursue a career in ambulatory care or infectious-disease pharmacy.