Sheldon, Iowa — Earlier this week the first doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Iowa.
Dr. Ryan Becker, of Sanford Sheldon, says the first doses are going to frontline healthcare providers.
(As above) “Initially the vaccines are prioritized for the frontline healthcare and long-term care residents, until we get enough doses that we can make it available to the general population. So it’s going to be, basically, those that are working the hospital, the clinic, your firefighters, your EMT personnel and then nursing home residents.
Dr. Becker addressed the issue of the vaccine’s safety.
(As above) “This vaccine has gone through several different trials. When it comes to looking at, both it’s efficacy..so how effective is it…but then also at its safety, too. And it’s been shown to be incredibly safe. I know there’s a lot concern and speculation out there, too…all kinds of different things that have been thrown out, whether it be on the different social media sites or what have you, but right now it’s showing as if it’s very, very safe. I think in the Phase III Clinical Trials they had almost forty-thousand people in each of the trials.”
Becker tells us what we can expect when getting the vaccine.
(As above) “What I’ve been telling patients to expect is that, it’s a two-dose series, so with the first dose expect to maybe feel just a little bit achy, maybe have a little bit of tenderness at the site of the injection itself. But then, within a couple of days that should go away. The second shot…if you have ever gotten a shingles shot…it’s usually a little more robust at that time, so you might feel a little achy for a few more days beyond that first couple of days. But by and large it’s very safe and compared to the potential manifestations of COVID itself, the virus itself, then this is going to be much better and protect you much better in that way, too.”
He tells us who should get a COVID vaccination.
(As above) “I’ve been encouraging to get this vaccine to all my patients. Well, I take that with an asterisk, I guess. There’s a certain population, like children up to the age of eighteen…there’s this thought that we can actually vaccinate those above sixteen, but we’ll know more as time goes on as it comes to the age there. We’re not giving it to our OB patients, those that are pregnant. And there’s also still debate on whether or not we should give it to those that have auto-immune diseases. But by and large, the great majority of my patients I’ve been saying just go ahead and get it.”
Dr. Becker says the cost of the vaccinations are very reasonable.
(As above) “The cost of the vaccine is free. I mean, there’s no charge for the actual vaccine itself the way it’s rolled out with this Emergency Use Authorization, EUA. One thing to consider, though, there very likely for many places, they’re going to have like a Nurse Administration Fee, just to cover the overhead costs of actually giving the vaccine and storing it and going through the process there.”
Dr. Becker says that it’s projected that the vaccine will be available for the general public by the end of the first quarter, or the beginning of the second quarter of 2021.
For more information on the COVID-19 vaccine you can contact your local healthcare provider.
