Many vaccines require multiple doses

Dear Dr. Roach: Can you tell me why the Johnson & Johnson vaccinations only requires one shot to be considered fully vaccinated as opposed to the others that require two shots? And no, I’m not vaccinated yet. I have trouble with things that are being shoved down my throat. I didn’t have to sign off on any vaccinations for all three of my children, so I’m not sure why they’re expecting me to sign off on these ones — other than the fact that they’ve been rushed and the manufacturing companies don’t want to be liable for the mistakes that they’ve possibly made.

B.E.

Answer: Many vaccines require multiple doses. Hepatitis B is three shots; DTaP is five shots; polio is four shots for the primary sequence. Repeated exposure to a germ helps our immune system learn how to fight off invaders.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a viral vector technology, different from the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, which use mRNA. All three of those vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19. Data presented in October showed that giving a second dose of Johnson & Johnson increased the neutralizing antibody level in the blood more than fourfold.

I do understand that nobody likes to be forced to get a medical procedure done. There are some important reasons why you should still get it. The most important is that COVID-19 has killed over 5 million people worldwide as of this writing, including almost 750,000 in the U.S. and almost 30,000 in Canada. You really want protection from this deadly disease.

I’d also say that nobody is forcing you to get the vaccine (since you haven’t had it). However, businesses have the right to refuse you if you aren’t vaccinated.

You certainly had to agree to your children getting vaccinated. You don’t give up your rights when being vaccinated. The National Vaccine Compensation Program and Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program provide benefits in the unlikely event of injuries caused by covered vaccines in the United States.

More than 7 billion doses have now been given out, and the safety of the vaccine is very high.