Vaccination hesitancy talks continue at Pine Island COVID-19 Task Force meeting
Discussions regarding vaccine hesitancy continued at last week’s May 17, meeting of the Pine Island Task Force. Dr. Daniel Hanley reported having “an embarrassment of riches” when it comes to the various COVID-19 vaccines on hand in his clinic.
“There’s a lot of hesitancy. We have a time crunch, because Moderna is frozen so they don’t expire until October, but the Johnson & Johnson shots are refrigerated only. They cannot be frozen,” said Hanley, likening the J&J vaccine to milk, which expires if you don’t use it.
He told the group about some of the things he describes as barriers to those who remain unvaccinated, specifically, perceived long-term consequences, mechanism of action and lack of FDA approval, outside of emergency use.
“I feel that public education will continue to be important,” said Hanley. “I feel some of the problems we’re having are national, if not international.”
Hanley spoke to the concern regarding FDA approval of the vaccines, versus the emergency authorization, under which they currently operate, saying the most likely reason FDA approval is not forthcoming is because the country is currently still in an emergency situation.
“It’s not that the routine approvals are being bypassed,” said Hanley.
He went on to explain that each day provides more data supporting future vaccine obligations for the companies that produce them. “I think for all intents and purposes, it pretty much is FDA approved — that once the emergency passes and everything goes through the routine processes, I see no reason Moderna and Pfizer will not get fully approved.”
Task Force member Martha Huard agreed that it’s a formality at this point, and not at all indicative of a lack of eligibility.
“Many of us are very familiar with drugs that had been approved based on clinical trials … and the patients are very happy to have those drugs,” said fellow Task Force member Ellen Ballard.
While Dr. James Koopman, another Task Force member, agreed, he said the path for vaccines is a much more difficult road in that they are being administered to people who are not currently battling a disease. The issue of potential long-term health complications due to vaccines can be addressed relatively easily, he said. People really have to compare the long-term complications of getting the infection, to the long-term complications of getting the vaccine.
“Part of that calculus is how likely they are to get the infection,” said Koopman.
He said the vaccines have been very good at taking a small fraction of the virus without granting the opportunity to replicate or integration into the gnome, while the wild type virus travels freely throughout the body. According to Koopman, we are only beginning to realize some long-term complications of the infection itself.
“The vaccine can make you sick, but COVID can kill you,” said Hanley.
Another Task Force member, Helen Fox, spoke to the issue of allergic reactions to mRNA vaccines, citing the Centers for Disease Control Website.
CDC.com
Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare. If this occurs, vaccination providers can effectively and immediately treat the reaction.
CDC and FDA scientists have evaluated reports from people who experienced a type of severe allergic reaction-anaphylaxis-after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare and occurred in approximately 2 to 5 people per million vaccinated in the United States based on events reported to VAERS. This kind of allergic reaction almost always occurs within 30 minutes after vaccination. After you get a COVID-19 vaccine, you will be asked to stay for 15-30 minutes, so you can be observed in case you have a severe allergic reaction and provided treatment in the rare case it is needed. Fortunately, vaccination providers have medicines available to effectively and immediately treat patients who experience anaphylaxis following vaccination.
Huard pointed out that the vaccine is not active within the body for a prolonged period of time and only triggers an immune response that appears as cold or flu symptoms, but is, in fact, a good display of a working immune system, in eliciting a response. It is completely metabolized, she said, within 48 hours of being administered.
Hanley said that an overblown hypothesis is that if you’ve had COVID you have the antibodies and therefore do not need to be vaccinated, for fear of overloading your body.
“Even if they’ve had COVID in the past, I still want them to get the vaccine,” said Hanley.
Koopman said people who have already had COVID are most critically in need of vaccination because when they get re-infected they are most likely to generate mutant viruses.
Hanley added that while the unvaccinated can continue to spread the virus, post COVID, the vaccinated cannot spread the virus.
“If you’ve had COVID and you get re-infected, you can help the virus mutate into something more difficult to control,” said Koopman. “This pandemic is not gong to end, it’s going to change,” he said, citing the recent Indian variant now dominant in Great Britain.
Koopman maintains that the longer people wait to get vaccinated, the more likely it is that the infection will come from a more deadly, deviant virus. The viruses being transmitted now, he said, are not only more deadly, but also more transmissible than what began the pandemic.
Hanley said he would like islanders to know he currently has the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on hand, with a reminder that it is administered to completion in only one shot. Please call the office if you are in need of the vaccine, even if you cannot drive and he will work with you.
Ancuram Family Medicine is at 10700 Stringfellow Road, Bokeelia. Call 833-742-6276 for more information.