COVID-19 vaccines continue to be administered locally
People in northeast Colorado are continuing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as health care workers make their way through the vaccine phases and protocols outlined by the state.
Jennifer Cano, RN, BSN, interim director of nursing, director of quality & risk, infection preventionist and employee health nurse at Melissa Memorial Hospital, said 108 people were vaccinated at the Jan.21 vaccination clinic at MMH.
Northeast Colorado Health Department also held a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Phillips County on Jan. 19, vaccinating a total of 61 people that day.
NCHD Marketing & Media Specialist and Public Information Officer Mary Brumage said NCHD is currently vaccinating individuals who are eligible under phases 1A and the first part of 1B on the state COVID-19 vaccination plan.
This currently eligible group includes highest-risk health care workers and individuals who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period and long-term care facility staff and residents. It also includes moderate-risk health care workers, first responders, frontline essential workers, continuity of state government, health care workers with less direct contact with COVID-19 patients (home health, hospice, pharmacy, dental, etc.) and EMS, firefighters, police, COVID-19 response personnel, correctional workers, funeral services, and people age 70 and older.
After Phase 1A and the first part of Phase 1B, the following individuals become eligible in the second part of Phase 1B. These include frontline essential workers in education, food and agriculture, manufacturing, U.S. postal service, public transit and specialized transportation staff, grocery, public health, frontline essential human service workers and direct care providers for Coloradans experiencing homelessness. It also includes essential officials from executive, legislative
and judicial branches of state government and essential frontline journalists.
Phase 2 is expected to begin in the spring and includes higher-risk individuals, people age 60-69, and people age 16-59 with obesity, diabetes, chronic lung disease, significant heart disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer or are immunocompromised. Also included are other essential workers, continuity of local government and adults who received a placebo during a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.
Phase 3 is scheduled to begin in the summer, when people in the general public age 16-59 are expected to be eligible. The timeline is subject to change based on supply chain, and prioritization is subject to change based on data, science and availability. Visit https://covid19.colorado.gov/vaccine for the most current information.
To speed up the vaccination process, the state has divided responsibilities for administering the vaccine between local public health agencies and providers.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have two doses, separated by 28 and 21 days, respectively.
Brumage said the process for the second dose will work differently depending on where a person received their first dose. She said that currently, people who have come to NCHD clinics signed up for a date and time for both doses during their first registration, and NCHD will either send an email or call people to remind them of their appointment the Friday prior to the second dose event.
She said NCHD clinic registrations are updated every Thursday at www.nchd.org/covidvaxlink for clinics that will be hosted the following week.
Cano said MMH staff members are continuing to schedule more clinics and are contacting the people who are on their list when they are eligible to receive the vaccine.
Cano explained that people can get on the list by visiting the MMH website, http://melissamemorial.org/. From there, people can select “COVID-19 Updates” and then follow the registration process.
Cano said people can also add their names to the list by calling MMH at 970-854-2241. Anyone can add their name to the list, and they will be contacted by MMH staff when they are eligible for the vaccine.
No identification is required for vaccination, but people can be asked to provide their name, date of birth or address to be used for public health information purposes.
Access to the vaccine will not be denied due to documentation status or inability to get government-issued identification. People also will not be turned away due to insurance status or inability to pay.
Cano said MMH continues to work closely with NCHD to make sure people are vaccinated.
NCHD shares press release on safety and benefits of vaccine
NCHD said in a Jan. 22 press release that today’s vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, are developed and tested to ensure they are safe and effective. Tests and trials are conducted to evaluate immunity, safety and how long the immunity lasts. Before pharmaceutical companies produce the vaccine for public use, the vaccine must go through four clinical trial phases and receive approval from the FDA.
The FDA issued emergency use authorizations for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna in December. This is a process that helps facilitate the availability and use of medicines and vaccines during public health emergencies. Both vaccines were tested in an estimated 73,000 volunteers from diverse populations, including older adults and communities of color.
These COVID-19 vaccines went through four rigorous phases, as do all vaccines. Phase 1 focused on vaccine safety, serious side effects, dosage and immune response to the vaccine.
Researchers looked at short-term side effects, the body’s immune response to the vaccine and assessed signs that the vaccine is protective in Phase 2.
In Phase 3, researchers compared disease rates for people who were vaccinated versus those who didn’t get vaccinated.
Finally, Phase 4 was the approval process by the FDA. Long-term benefits and side effects were also studied during the final phase.
All studies and trials in the first three phases were reviewed by the FDA and a safety board in the approval process. COVID-19 vaccines have been held to the same safety standards as all other vaccines. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to monitor vaccine safety and side effects once vaccines are in use.
There are existing systems used to monitor the safety of vaccines. A new system called V-Safe is a voluntary, active surveillance system available for individuals getting vaccinated. This system uses text messaging to initiate web-based survey monitoring of side effects and will provide telephone follow-up to anyone who reports medically significant adverse events.
Vaccines work by mimicking the infectious bacteria or viruses that cause disease. Vaccination triggers an immune response inside people’s bodies to build up defenses, also known as antibodies, to protect people from getting infected if the targeted bacteria or virus enters their bodies.
People who receive the COVID-19 vaccine may experience normal side effects after vaccination, such as fever, chills, headache, fatigue or body aches. Side effects from the vaccine typically occur one to two days after receiving it.
The likelihood of experiencing a severe side effect is extremely low. As of Jan. 21, over 350,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Colorado, with three individuals experiencing a serious reaction which required a hospital visit. Just as with other types of vaccine, COVID-19 vaccines are expected to produce some side effects after vaccination, especially after the second dose, but most people will only experience mild reactions, which are a normal sign that their body is building antibodies or protection.
Experiencing side effects does not mean a person is contagious and they do not need to isolate. Most of the side effects should go away within a few days. Because Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines, they do not contain the live virus and cannot give someone COVID-19. However, it does take the body a few weeks to build immunity after vaccination.
People who have gotten sick with COVID-19 may still benefit from vaccination. While a person who has had COVID-19 has some immunity, experts don’t know how long someone is protected and it is possible to become infected with the virus more than once.
There are some people who should not receive the COVID-19 vaccination. People who have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine including PEG or polysorbate shouldn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals who have had an allergic reaction after getting the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t get the second dose. NCHD advises people to talk to their primary care provider if they have concerns and/or a history of allergic reaction.
NCHD said the progress of the vaccine development has been groundbreaking and impressive. Vaccines usually take years to produce, but due to recent crucial developments in COVID-19 vaccine research, scientists were able to utilize those advancements in the creation of these vaccines.
The only differences about the COVID-19 vaccines is that the administrative aspects, production and distribution of these vaccines, have been expedited. In addition, some of the trial phases were conducted simultaneously, while most phases of trials occur sequentially. There are now two vaccines that are close to 95% effective.
COVID-19 disease can have serious, life-threatening complications and there is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect a particular person or their loved ones. For some people, getting sick with COVID-19 results in serious complications affecting different organ systems in the body, and the long-term significance of these complications is not yet known.
The benefit of taking the vaccine is immunity without getting sick. NCHD says the vaccine will also allow a return to normal, reopen the economy and help communities thrive. The vaccines are being disseminated in three phases. Until then, NCHD urges everyone to keep doing their part: wear a mask, social distance, limit the size of gatherings and wash their hands frequently.