I Got a J & J Vaccine. Should I Get a Booster Shot as Delta Spreads?

Welcome to COVID Questions, TIME’s advice column. We’re trying to make living through the pandemic a little easier, with expert-backed answers to your toughest coronavirus-related dilemmas. While we can’t and don’t offer medical advice—those questions should go to your doctor—we hope this column will help you sort through this stressful and confusing time. Got a question? Write to us at covidquestions@time.com. Today, N.C. in Washington, D.C., asks: I got a Johnson & Johnson vaccine. With the Delta variant spreading, I’ve heard that some people in my position are also getting shots of Pfizer or Moderna for extra protection. Is that something I should do, too? And if booster shots become recommended later on, should I switch to Pfizer or Moderna? It’s true that vaccines made with mRNA—those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna—offer stronger protection against initial COVID-19 strains than Janssen/Johnson & Johnson’s adenovirus-based shot. That’s why some people who got Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine are interested in doubling up, particularly as the more transmissible Delta variant continues to spread in the U.S. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) official stance is that COVID-19 shots are not interchangeable. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unsafe to mix them; there’re just not a lot of data available to answer the question. Some prominent re...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID Questions COVID-19 Source Type: news