Task Force discusses risks versus benefits of COVID-19 vaccines
At its Jan. 25 meeting, the Pine Island COVID-19 Task Force discussed reactions so far from the public to the vaccines.
Dr James Koopman said any physical reaction would likely become evident within minutes of receiving the vaccine. He said he believes any state level decision made regarding the vaccine should be backed by the proper input from medical authorities.
Dr. Daniel Hanley weighed in on possible anaphylactic reactions by saying it seems that contributing pharmacies have a great deal of equipment on hand if necessary to handle allergic reactions, and that if people have a severe allergic reaction, he would hope the pharmacists reach out to their local doctors. Koopman pointed out that the time required in that kind of an emergency may not be an option.
“Local doctors are not administering any vaccine yet,” said Koopman, “and they won’t for a long time.”
Koopman’s concern is that anyone distributing the vaccine would have the knowledge and training needed to recognize and treat an anaphylactic reaction in its early stages. Hanley said he has not yet seen too many anaphylactic reactions from vaccines in general, and while they (medical personnel) should be looking out for these reactions, he isn’t terribly worried about it.
“Most of the side effects happen because the immune system is firing like it should be,” said Hanley. “Anaphylactic reactions are relatively uncommon.”
“But they are more common with this vaccine than with the other vaccines,” Koopman said, “because of the polyethylene glycol that’s used to stabilize both the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines. It’s in the five to 10 times more frequent range with these vaccines than with other vaccines.”
While Hanley said he understands these things, he said he feels the need to use caution before conveying a message to the public that might depict a hazardous situation.
“People can and should safely receive the vaccine,” said Hanley.
Koopman reiterated that his concern was whether allergic reactions are being handled properly.
Fellow Task Force member Martha Huard said the underlying question is really whether the vaccine provider has standing orders to administer a dose of epinephrine (often referred to as an EpiPen) as they await EMS.
“Medicine is all about risks and benefits,” said Hanley. “If you don’t get the vaccine, you’re at risk of getting COVID-19, but not just that — you’re at risk of the complications. Now compare that to, not even the risk of anaphylactic reactions but to regular side effects. We can’t force people to get the vaccine, but the benefit is such a large benefit compared to the relatively low risk. Pretty much everybody should get the vaccine.”
As a group, the Task Force has a goal to help islanders get through the pandemic in a number of ways, from the simple sharing of information about where to go and what to do if you’re ill to assistance, if possible, in locating the correct vaccination site.
Task Force member Jim McLaughlin currently has a Facebook page called Jim Mac’s Pine Island Updates where locals can find updated information daily.
Koopman shared that getting everyone vaccinated quickly is the key to preventing the evolution of new resistant strains of COVID-19.
“This is my major area of work — what the model I’ve developed was designed to address,” said Koopman. “We’re dealing with a whole slough of variants now. It’s not just the British, the South African and the Brazilian … we’re dealing with many different ones. Basically, you’ve been hearing this message — that it is increased transmission but it doesn’t seem to affect severity. That is ill-defined. The data shows it’s tenfold less effective at stimulating immune response to the British variant compared to the previous … so it’s a serious issue.”
Koopman contends that with enough vaccinations the transmission can be stopped, although, he said, he suspects there are a lot of people who would decide not to get vaccinated, remaining a source for the spread of the virus.
Hanley remains generally unworried, saying viruses mutate all the time and that overall it doesn’t change anything.
“There are a lot of mutations out there,” said Hanley. “Maybe it’s more transmissible than before, but honestly everybody’s exposed. What we want to happen is to get control of the pandemic. I’m hoping we get more control by the summertime. The end of the pandemic is the goal, however, the coronavirus is still going to be around. Eventually it will become what’s called, endemic, meaning that, like the flu and other types of colds out there, it’s going to be in the population and at that point even when we have it under control we can still manage it. Everything that we are doing now will still apply for the foreseeable future.”
“Masks, handwashing, distancing and immunization,” said Huard, in agreement. “That’s what’s going to work and that’s what we have to keep doing.”