Month: January 2021

Hooray a vaccine!

It is 2021. Finally! We made it through a disappointing Christmas and a pretty boring New Years Eve.  But looking forward, there is some very good news.  There are two COVID-19 vaccines coming to a drug store or health care facility near you!  You may not have yours yet, but if you live in an assisted living facility or are over 75, there is a chance the first dose is only  weeks away.

You probably have a lot of questions about the vaccine, but it’s important to get answers from reliable sources, including the CDC , your local health department, and your physician. Beware any websites that offer treatments for COVID-19 or nutritional supplements that say they boost the power of the vaccines. The vaccines are remarkably powerful on their own — both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine are over 90% effective. Given that the ordinary flu vaccine is often only 60% or 70% effective, these Covid-19 vaccines offer us real hope for future control of the pandemic.

Dr. Margan Zajdowicz, an infectious disease physician and expert on vaccines, has agreed to share with us information from the Pfizer/BioNTeech Covid-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet she developed for a retirement community. (We added the questions in BOLD.)

  1. When will the vaccine be available? Allotments of this vaccine have arrived in California and will be offered to residents and staff of long term care facilities soon.
  2. How many doses will be required? The vaccine requires two doses, three weeks apart. Full immunity is not achieved without the second dose. The vaccine is given in the deltoid muscle of the upper arm. Patients will be observed for at least 15 minutes following vaccination.
  3. For what ages is the vaccine been tested? In the vaccine trials, the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 over all age groups with no significant difference in effectiveness in the older age range. Ages in the trial ranged from 16 years to 91 years.
  4. Is the vaccine safe? In the vaccine trials, the vaccine appeared safe with no serious complications.
  5. Are there any side effects? After receipt of the vaccine, many people experienced soreness at the site of the injection. A few people experienced fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, or joint pain following the injections. These symptoms were more likely after the second dose and were more frequent in younger people. All the symptoms resolved in 1-2 days. Motrin/Advil or Tylenol may be taken in appropriate doses AFTER the vaccination for alleviation of symptoms.
  6. Is the vaccine live? This vaccine is NOT a live virus vaccine. It does not contain any active virus.
  7. What is in the vaccine? 
    1. Messenger RNA (mRNA – the active ingredient)
    2. a fat bubble (lipid nanoparticles) to contain the mRNA which includes polyethylene glycol (the active ingredient in Miralax)
    3. buffer salts to maintain the proper pH
    4. sucrose to aid in keeping the mRNA intact during freezing
    5. This vaccine contains no adjuvants (materials designed to non-specifically boost the immune response), no antibiotics, no preservatives, and no egg protein.
  8. Are there any contraindications to taking the vaccine? There are NO medical contraindications to receiving the vaccine except:
      1. Severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) to any of the components of the vaccine. People with known severe allergic reactions to any component of the vaccine should consult their physician.
      2. There is a precaution for persons with severe allergic reactions to any injectable vaccines or therapies. Such persons should be observed for 30 minutes following vaccination.
      3. Specifically, there are NO medical conditions that are contraindications to the vaccine. This includes immunosuppression, cancer and cancer chemotherapy, and autoimmune diseases.
  9. What if I have allergies? Allergies to foods, pet dander, peanuts, shell fish, eggs, tree nuts, latex, or antibiotics are NOT valid reasons to avoid the vaccine.
  10. What if I already had COVID-19?  People who have already had COVID-19 should still be vaccinated.
  11. What if I have an adverse reaction? Vaccine recipients will be followed closely for any adverse effects that might be attributed to the vaccine. Everyone will be asked to sign up for v-safe, a cell phone based tracking system that will check in with you at intervals to see how you are doing. Additionally the long standing federal system of tracking vaccine side effects, VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), is in place and fully operational. Anyone can make a report to VAERS.

A few additional answers we found that may be helpful:

  1. Will the vaccine cost me anything? The vaccine will be free to you. Taxpayer dollars were used to help develop and distribute the vaccine, but you will not be charged directly.
  2. Why were the vaccines developed so quickly? The speed of development of the vaccine was due to worldwide collaboration among researchers and the fact that there are hundreds of corona-type viruses that were already being studied, along with the support of government funding to accelerate the research and development.
  3. Once I have been vaccinated does that mean I don’t have to wear a mask or distance? No. You should wear a mask after you are vaccinated until the CDC changes its current recommendations, because we don’t yet know how long immunity lasts or whether you can spread a virus even if you have been vaccinated.

Bottom line: keep doing what you have been doing — staying at home as much as possible, really distance from people even if you all are wearing masks, and keep on washing your hands. The results of travel at Christmas will start being felt this week, and hospitals are full, so it’s no time to let up your vigilance!