system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What happens when a person contracts COVID between doses of the vaccine?

This was removed by the mods for being hypothetical but I imagine this has happened during trials or we wouldn’t have the statistics we have. So I’m reposting it with less “hypothetical” language. 

It’s my understanding that the first dose (of the Pfizer vaccine) is 52% effective at preventing COVID and the second is 95% effective. So what happens if you are exposed to COVID and contract it in the 21/28 days between doses? In the trials, did those participants get the second dose? Did they get it while infectious or after recovering? Or were they removed from the study? 

Asking because I just received the Moderna vaccine a few days ago and I want to know what would happen if I were to get it from one of my patients during the limbo period between doses. Thanks!
gpt
This is actually happening quite a bit out there, though many had the exposure prior to their first dose but were not aware until afterwards. In practice, we will be giving the 2nd dose once they have completed isolation and cleared the acute infection. However, in general, we are trying to wait 90 days from a positive to start the vaccine. Both because you generally don't vaccinate people who are acutely ill and because people are immune for at least 90 days anyway. Here's what CDC said 4 days ago about the timing of 2nd doses: 

"Second doses administered within a grace period of ≤4 days from the recommended date for the second dose are considered valid; however, doses administered earlier do not need to be repeated. The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible. However, there is no maximum interval between the first and second dose for either vaccine."