What happens if you don’t get the second COVID-19 vaccine dose?

By BRENNA DONNELLY

WISH-TV | wishtv.com

Local healthcare workers are doing what they can to emphasize the necessity of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and warning about three consequences if you don’t take it: No immunity, a mutated virus and a longer pandemic.

Both Moderna and Pfizer’s versions require a second dose at 28 and 21 days, respectively.

The federal government does not a have a robust plan for tracking and reminding people about a second dose. Its 75-page playbook dedicates just one page to the topic, referencing a paper notecard.

Mary Kay Foster, infectious disease nurse at IU Health, says the State of Indiana has other plans. It will remind you electronically after you’ve gotten the first dose that you need to schedule and take the second.

“You go in, you pre-register, come on-site at your time, and when you get ready to leave you’ll get a link to schedule for your second dose,” Foster said. “It will continuously ping them to get their schedule done and remind them frequently.”