130 of those were distributed to EMS
Monongalia County Health Department got an early Christmas gift Tuesday — 160 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
It was a hectic day as employees traveled to the site where the vaccines were being kept at minus 70 Celsius [-94F] until MCHD’s freezer that can keep the inoculations that cold arrives.
Once they made it back to the health department, vials had to be unpacked, thawed and reconstituted with saline solution before employee vaccination began.
Then, Wednesday, 130 of the doses were distributed to Monongalia County’s EMS workers after MCHD’s public health nursing trained representatives for these front-line providers in the steps to correctly store and prepare the vaccine.
Dr. Lee B. Smith, MCHD executive director and county health officer, expressed his enthusiasm for this turn of events.
“We are grateful to have an opportunity to begin providing protection to our employees and other front-line members of the health-care team, as well as participate in what we believe will be the biggest and best weapon in the fight against the COVID pandemic.”
Each Pfizer vaccine vial holds five doses and everyone who receives a vaccine will need a second dose 21 days later. Because it needs to be thawed and reconstituted, Smith said, “when we start giving out one vaccine, we need five people lined up and ready to go. This has required a lot of education and planning on our part, so we are ready to provide the vaccine without wasting any doses.”
Delivery of doses to MCHD is expected to continue on a weekly basis, with hundreds of doses expected by the end of December.
“We expect to be in a position to begin vaccinating the general public very soon,” Smith said. “We are currently making plans for locations and logistics of this important endeavor.”
Individuals should feel very safe getting the vaccine, Smith added, noting that it cannot give you COVID-19. “You’re not getting the whole virus, like in a polio vaccine. You’re only getting one protein. That appears to be sufficient exposure for your body’s immune system to generate antibodies.”
The Pfizer vaccine is a messenger RNA vaccine or mRNA. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this is different from older vaccines that used a weakened or inactivated germ. The mRNA vaccines instead teach cells how to make a protein, or even just a piece of a protein, that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.
In vaccine trials, some common side effects by individuals were similar to those of a flu shot: pain and swelling at the injection site, fever, chills, fatigue or a headache.
“From what we understand, for those who had side effects, they generally came on quickly and then resolved in a day,” Smith said.
As the recipient of a first-round vaccine, I can describe my experience: It was similar to getting a flu shot. My arm became sore at the injection site, but two days later, it already feels a lot better. I also felt a bit tired.
“These vaccines are a wonderful illustration of the strides scientists have made in recent years when it comes to creating vaccines,” Smith said. “This technology has been in development for years, so while these vaccines were created in an unprecedented short period of time, the science behind them is not new.”
A very few number of individuals who got the vaccine had an anaphylactic reaction to the vaccine. While this is rare, Smith noted, “administration sites will be equipped and ready to deal with these problems.” Those who are concerned about this can talk to their health care provider before getting the vaccine.
One question that has emerged as the public learns more about the vaccine is whether mask usage will still be necessary for individuals once they are inoculated.
The short answer to that is, “Yes, absolutely,” and for a few reasons.
“Because this is a two-dose vaccine taken three weeks apart, individuals will not have full protection against contracting COVID-19 until weeks after receiving the second dose,” Smith said. “Persons only having the first of the two-vaccine series may still contract COVID-19. It also should be remembered that no vaccine has an absolute guarantee.”
Also, the CDC is estimating that the country needs to vaccinate at least 60% of the population in order to achieve herd immunity that will protect all citizens.
“It will take several months to get that many individuals vaccinated and for them to achieve the full protection the vaccine offers,” Dr. Smith said.
The CDC’s website features a great deal of information on the vaccine at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html.
Email Mary Wade Burnside at MaryWade.Burnside@wv.gov.
