Dr Vanterpool made the comments during a panel discussion of a webcast entitled ‘Let's Talk COVID-19 Vaccination Live Forum’ hosted by Karia J. Christopher and streamed live on the Facebook page of JTV on July 22, 2021.

While it is not recommended that persons get vaccinated while infected with COVID-19, according to the doctor, in the instance where such a scenario plays out, the vaccine will still be beneficial.

“Well as far as I'm aware, the vaccine is not going to make you worse if you happen to have COVID at the time, the vaccine may actually speed up your immune system a little bit,” he said.

“But remember it takes time, from the time you get injected with the vaccine and it takes… at least two weeks to build up your initial antibodies,” the doctor noted.

While it is not recommended that persons get vaccinated while infected with COVID-19, according to Dr Heskith A. Vanterpool, in the instance where such a scenario plays out, the vaccine will still be beneficial.

Vaccine helps body recognise COVID-19 virus

However, according to Dr Vanterpool, the real effectiveness of the vaccine kicks in within four weeks of the first dose.

“About four weeks after having had the first dose of the vaccine, I think I saw a study coming out of Scotland that showed that it was 70 to 80% protective against people being admitted to hospital compared to persons that did not have any vaccine at all,” he said.

“But when you get this second dose many weeks later, your body has now already recognised [COVID-19]… your body has already been well-prepped to defend itself, so to speak, against a perceived second invasion by the vaccine,” he said.