Maybe Tony Blair should have done some research before spouting off!! 
Why you're not fully protected from COVID-19 after a single vaccine dose
Mia de Graaf and Hilary Brueck
Jan 5, 2021, 2:35 PM
Both Pfizer and Moderna'a COVID-19 vaccines require two shots, given weeks apart.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool via AP
As 2021 begins, millions of people around the world are starting to get COVID-19 vaccines.
Shots that have been approved so far (Pfizer and Moderna in the US; Pfizer and AstraZeneca in the UK) have proved highly effective, providing up to 95% protection from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
However, vaccine immunity doesn't kick in immediately. Each of these vaccines requires two shots, administered several weeks apart, in order to provide people with a robust, long-lasting form of protection against the virus.
Although there is some evidence a first dose can start bolstering the body's defenses against the novel coronavirus, it's only after the second shot that your risk of infection can plummet to as little as 5%.
As Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in December, it would be a "big mistake" to rely on just one shot of his company's vaccine to keep you safe from disease. While one shot could help begin to control the pandemic, Bourla told reporters, "with two, you almost double the protection."
Here's what we know — and don't know yet — about when and how these new shots protect people from infections.
Yes, you can get COVID-19 after the first shot of a two-dose vaccine
Dr. Jason Smith showed off his bandage after getting vaccinated at the University of Louisville Hospital in Kentucky.
Already, there have been several instances of people who have gotten their first shot subsequently getting infected with the novel coronavirus.
One nurse in California got COVID-19 six days after his first shot, and another emergency-room doctor in Georgia came down with COVID-19 nine days after his first dose of Pfizer's vaccine.
"This was just dumb luck," Josh Mugele, the ER doctor, told Insider's Aria Bendix. "I happened to be exposed within a few days of getting the vaccine, but this still is the best tool we have for fighting the virus."
Vaccinated people do get some form of protection from their first shot, which generally kicks in after about two weeks. But two shots have been shown to be more effective for stronger, longer-lasting immunity.
"The second dose gives you ten times higher immune response than the first dose," Moncef Slaoui, the US's chief science advisor for the vaccine rollout, said on CBS Sunday.
Vaccines train the body to fight the coronavirus, and that takes time
Pfizer and Moderna have created mRNA vaccines, which include pieces of genetic material that teach the body to recognize and attack something called "the spike protein" — a unique feature of the novel coronavirus that latches onto human cells.
It works fast, but not instantaneously.
Why you're not fully protected from COVID-19 after a single vaccine dose
Mia de Graaf and Hilary Brueck
Jan 5, 2021, 2:35 PM
Both Pfizer and Moderna'a COVID-19 vaccines require two shots, given weeks apart.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool via AP
- Most COVID-19 vaccines are given as two shots, administered several weeks apart.
- Protection does not start when the needle hits your arm.
- It takes some days after each shot for the body to mount its own immune response to the novel coronavirus and prevent disease.
- Experts don't know exactly how protected from infection people are after their first shot, but there are signs of slight — but not full — protection after a couple weeks.
- Only weeks after a second shot should people feel secure that they have a very low chance of getting COVID-19. Even then, their risk is not zero.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
As 2021 begins, millions of people around the world are starting to get COVID-19 vaccines.
Shots that have been approved so far (Pfizer and Moderna in the US; Pfizer and AstraZeneca in the UK) have proved highly effective, providing up to 95% protection from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
However, vaccine immunity doesn't kick in immediately. Each of these vaccines requires two shots, administered several weeks apart, in order to provide people with a robust, long-lasting form of protection against the virus.
Although there is some evidence a first dose can start bolstering the body's defenses against the novel coronavirus, it's only after the second shot that your risk of infection can plummet to as little as 5%.
As Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in December, it would be a "big mistake" to rely on just one shot of his company's vaccine to keep you safe from disease. While one shot could help begin to control the pandemic, Bourla told reporters, "with two, you almost double the protection."
Here's what we know — and don't know yet — about when and how these new shots protect people from infections.
Yes, you can get COVID-19 after the first shot of a two-dose vaccine
Dr. Jason Smith showed off his bandage after getting vaccinated at the University of Louisville Hospital in Kentucky.
Already, there have been several instances of people who have gotten their first shot subsequently getting infected with the novel coronavirus.
One nurse in California got COVID-19 six days after his first shot, and another emergency-room doctor in Georgia came down with COVID-19 nine days after his first dose of Pfizer's vaccine.
"This was just dumb luck," Josh Mugele, the ER doctor, told Insider's Aria Bendix. "I happened to be exposed within a few days of getting the vaccine, but this still is the best tool we have for fighting the virus."
Vaccinated people do get some form of protection from their first shot, which generally kicks in after about two weeks. But two shots have been shown to be more effective for stronger, longer-lasting immunity.
"The second dose gives you ten times higher immune response than the first dose," Moncef Slaoui, the US's chief science advisor for the vaccine rollout, said on CBS Sunday.
Vaccines train the body to fight the coronavirus, and that takes time
Pfizer and Moderna have created mRNA vaccines, which include pieces of genetic material that teach the body to recognize and attack something called "the spike protein" — a unique feature of the novel coronavirus that latches onto human cells.
It works fast, but not instantaneously.
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