97 Seven Country WGLR
MADISON, Wis. — There are still many unanswered questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, but on Monday, a group of doctors and medical experts addressed what we know about the vaccine at an online webinar hosted by the Poynter Institute.
Members of the question and answer session included Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA Advisory and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Susan Bailey, the President of the American Medical Association, Dr. Leon McDougle, President of the National Medical Association, and Patricia Stinchfield, President of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
Offit said if we are able to vaccinate people in a timely and efficient manner, “I think by next Thanksgiving we are going to see a dramatic drop in the number of cases, the number of hospitalizations, the number of deaths and we can start to get our lives back together again.”
Many questions were asked by Poynter Institute faculty member and moderator Al Tompkins. Here are several of the most commonly asked questions:
How are doctors going to be able to tell if someone has already had their vaccine? Are states tracking it?
The measures may look different from state to state.
Stinchfield said, “We have state registries. In our hospitals, we are putting it into a computer that flows into our state registry. So you’ll be able to look people up and track them. It would not be easy to get four vaccines.”
Bailey said, “With the Pfizer vaccine, when you get your first dose, you fill out a card tat’s going to help keep track of you to have you come back in the 21 days to get your second dose.”
What if I miss the 21 day recommendation for the second dose? Do I need to start the process over again? Did I mess up the vaccination process?
Doctors say to get the vaccine as soon as you can. If it’s not exactly on the 21st day, that shouldn’t be an issue.
Can people with allergies get the vaccine?
Offit said, “The recommendation is that if you’ve ever had a severe allergic reaction to an injectable product, that you do not get the vaccine. However, if you have a severe allergic response otherwise, so for example, people commonly have peanut allergies, egg allergies, or other food allergies, you can still get the vaccine, you just need to wait for 30 minutes in the area where you got the vaccine so that if you do have an allergic reaction, someone would be able to give you a shot of epinephrine to reverse it.”
Should women who are pregnant or breastfeeding get it?
Offit said, “There’s really no biological reason to think it would be damaging to either them because they’re pregnant, or to their unborn child.”
Why do we need two doses? What happens if you only get one?
The second dose acts as a booster shot and will improve your immunity to the virus for a longer period of time.
Offit said, “When you look at antibodies, you’re looking at the tip of the iceberg. If you look below the tip of the iceberg, you’re looking at memory cells. If you can have relatively high frequencies of memory cells, that tells you that you’re going to have relatively longer immunity.”
With several different companies coming out with a vaccine, can I get my first dose from one company and the second dose from another?
Doctors recommend to stick with the same company that gave you the first dose for your second dose. There are different ingredients in each of the vaccines.
Is there a live virus in the vaccine?
No. The Pfizer vaccine is made up of nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA) encoding the viral spike glycoprotein (S) of SARS-CoV-2, (4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(
Offit said, “You’re giving the genetic material that teaches your cells to make that protein. So your body makes the spike protein of coronavirus, then your body makes the antibodies to the spike protein. That’s the critical difference.”
Will places ask for immunization passports or proof that you’ve been vaccinated?
Doctors say it’s hard to predict what places will require once vaccines roll out to the masses.
Bailey said, “I’d be surprised if there aren’t some sectors of society that decide to require documentation of immunity. We require children in public schools to document their immunization so there’s certainly precedent for that.”
Will there be side effects of the vaccine?
Yes. You should expect some side effects like soreness or redness at the site of injection, fatigue, fever, etc. But medical experts are concerned that some will link common medical issues to the vaccine that aren’t connected and will try to hinder people from getting vaccinated.
Stinchfield said, “People will jump to cause and effect. There’s always a backdrop of life, of people who have miscarriages, of people who die, of people who develop a disease. That’s going to keep happening with or without this vaccine. I’m concerned there is an element of the anti-vaccine world who is so prime to jump on one of those and turn the conversation. That would be devastating.”
Does the vaccine prevent people from spreading it to others?
There are still studies being done to test this.
Offit said, “There is going to be a study done on a college campus that will look exactly at that. To see whether or not if the vaccine prevents disease but also prevents asymptomatic infection where you still can be contagious.”
Doctors know that not everyone will be able to be vaccinated for one reason or another. McDougle said his biggest concern is making sure that Black, Indigenous and Latinx communities who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 are able to get vaccinated. He also said there is a sense of distrust and concern from members of the Black community about the safety of the virus. He encourages people to look at this letter from the Black Coalition Against COVID-19.
Health care workers and medical experts are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 vaccine. News 3 Now will continue to bring you answers to the most pressing questions as more information becomes available.
COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
