People have been asking a lot of good questions about the COVID 19 vaccines. There are several companies with vaccines coming to market. We are likely in Ohio to get the one made by Pfizer and Moderna initially.
Both vaccines are to be given in 2 doses about a month apart from each other. Therefore, when you hear we are getting 20 million doses, that would be for just 10 million people.
Ohio is going to distribute batches to regional hospitals, and I believe, nursing homes first. St. Vincent Mercy Hospital is going to be getting the first batch in our region. I don’t know how they will know who a healthcare provider is, aside from their own workers, but I’m sure they will be checking with ID cards as well as license records. Here’s the list of initial vaccine recipients:
Healthcare providers and personnel who are routinely involved with the care of COVID-19 patients.
Residents and staff in nursing facilities.
Residents and staff in assisted living facilities.
Patients and staff at psychiatric hospitals.
People with intellectual disabilities and those with mental illness who in group homes or centers and staff at those locations
Residents and staff of Ohio’s veterans homes.
EMS responders
These vaccines were developed using a few scientific advances and much of the same science used to make influenza vaccine. The hope is that we have wide adoption and can end the pandemic and go back to some semblance of normality.
These vaccines are both proving to be effective and safe. Of note, they are already using them in the UK and did have 2 people have anaphylactic reactions to them. The patients are both fine, and both have a history of anaphylactic reactions before (hives, difficulty breathing, swelling of lips and other body parts). For initial safety, these vaccines are not tested on people who have a history of any allergy to any components or any history of that type of allergic reaction.
Common side effects of the vaccine are the usual: headache, fatigue, soreness or redness at the injection site, and muscle or joint pain, and should not prevent you from getting a vaccine that can prevent you from catching or spreading this deadly virus. YOU CANNOT get COVID 19 from the vaccine. It does not have any virus in it.
We need to get to approximately 70% of the population vaccinated in order to drastically limit the spread of the virus. It is your personal responsibility to help protect yourself, your family, and your community. Currently, predications are that we could get there by late fall of 2021. As of now, they do recommend that everyone get vaccinated, even if you did get COVID 19, as the vaccine may provide better immunity. You will still need to wear masks, social distance, wash your hands and all that until we get to that point.
The vaccines are being paid for by the government, so you should not have any charge for them. Most regular people won’t be vaccinated probably until spring. The good news with that is that millions of people will get it before then, so if there are any issues with the vaccines, they will be apparent by then.
As we get more information, I will post on the blog and Facebook as well as our newsletter, so make sure you are following one of those. We will also send out a text alert eventually, when we get some vaccine in. It probably won’t be until at least February.
Stay safe!