Confused about when to get a COVID-19 test or vaccination boost? You're not alone.

News & Record - 1/21/2022

Jan. 21—GREENSBORO — Confused about when to get a COVID-19 test? Or when to get retested? What about getting a booster shot?

You're not alone.

"We are definitely seeing confusion about testing, and the timing for boosters," Dr. Laura Murray, the area medical director for Cone Health Medical Group, said in an email.

Marty Lambeth, vice president of Novant Health Physician Network Services, agreed.

"We just like to remind everybody in the community that they really need to understand the guidance from the CDC before they come in to be tested or before they come in to be vaccinated," Lambeth said in a video released Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following groups get tested:

—People who have symptoms of COVID-19.

—People who have come into close contact with someone with COVID-19. That means you're within 6 feet for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period. For children in classrooms where well-fitting masks are consistently used, the space requirement drops to less than 3 feet.

—People who have been asked to get tested by their school, workplace, health care provider or health department.

"The most useful immediate test is an antigen test, because the result is typically available within minutes to hours (instead of hours to days for PCR)," Murray said. And any positive test should be considered a "real" positive, she said, meaning that the person should isolate for at least five days and until any fever has vanished for 24 hours and other symptoms are improving or resolved.

Both women said people should not retest too early after getting a positive result.

Lambeth said she's seeing people test positive one day and come back the next to get retested, hoping for a negative result.

"It's just not necessary," she said. "It's honestly a waste of their time and it's a waste of resources."

Murray recommended people who are trying to get a negative test to go back to work wait five days before getting retested.

And people with symptoms should be cautious, even if they get a negative test, she said.

"Infections happen over a time period, and tests only catch a snapshot in that time period," she said. "Negative tests can be misleading early and late in an infection.

"A person with symptoms and a negative COVID antigen test should retest in a couple days — if the test turns positive, that is considered a 'real' positive," Murray said. "There is a lot of COVID out there and we should expect to find lots of infections."

As for getting the vaccine, health officials said vaccinated people should check their vaccine card to make sure they're eligible for a booster shot.

People who have had the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine series are eligible at least five months after their second shot, according to the CDC's website. Those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible two months after receiving their shot.

After a COVID-19 infection, the CDC now says people can get vaccinated as soon as the symptoms are over and the person has ended their isolation period, Murray said.

And with the winter weather we've been receiving, health officials recommended checking to see if vaccination and testing sites have temporarily closed or changed their hours.

Scheduling an appointment also is helpful to health officials, Lambeth said.

"It helps us first of all screen you to make sure that you're appropriate to be tested — we'll ask you a series of questions. It also helps us plan for resources to make sure that we've got adequate staff there to accommodate the number of people that are coming through."

Contact Kenwyn Caranna at 336-373-7082 and follow @kcaranna on Twitter.

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