If you have just recovered from COVID-19, experts say you don't need to join in on the rush for vaccination immediately

• India is set to open COVID-19 vaccination for all above 18 years of age from May 1, and the registration for the same started on Wednesday.
• According to experts, people who have just recovered from COVID-19 have to wait for 90 days until you can take the vaccine.
• India is in the midst of a gruesome second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disclaimer: This should not be considered medical advice. Please check with your doctor on medical procedures.

India is in the midst of a gruesome second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and with vaccination being a key immuniser to the virus, people have been waiting for registrations to start. For the eighth consecutive day, India has reported over three lakh new daily COVID-19 cases.

India is set to open COVID-19 vaccination for all above 18 years of age from May 1 and the registration for the same started on Wednesday.

But if you have just recovered from COVID-19, you don’t need to join the queue. Well, at least not now. According to experts, people who have just recovered from COVID-19 have to wait for at least two months and upto 90 days until they can take the vaccine.

“COVID-19 has been devastating in the past few days, and many lives have succumbed to it. Initiating the vaccination drive for adults will mean lesser infections and spread, and a prompt immune response to fight the complications. Every eligible candidate above 18 years must be vaccinated, and a person infected with COVID-19 can be vaccinated between 6-8 weeks of his recovery from the infection,” said Dr Sharwari Dabhade Dua, consultant physician, internal medicine and endocrinology at Madhukar Rainbow Hospitals.

Many doctors suggested that 90 days after the recovery is ideal. The US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that, “If you were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine.”

“Those who have just suffered from COVID-19 and recovered, you have to wait for 90 days until you can take the vaccine. If you have taken one dose of the vaccine and then developed COVID-19, in that case you have to wait for 60-90 days from illness for the second dose,” Dr. Harish Chafle, consultant of pulmonology and critical care at Global Hospitals in Mumbai told Business Insider.

Dr. Chafle explained that if you have got COVID-19, you will naturally develop antibodies that will protect you from infection. “There is no point in getting a vaccine immediately when you already have a good natural immunity,” he said.

SEE ALSO:
Adar Poonawalla's Serum cuts Covishield vaccine price for state governments to ₹300 a dose after much backlash
CoWIN website is back up after an early crash⁠ — finding a vaccination slot may still be difficult
CoWIN server crashes as thousands of Indians rush to register for COVID-19 vaccination