Leaders from the Utah Department of Health, Intermountain, and all other major Utah health systems came forward yesterday to explain the state’s current COVID-19 status and to encourage all eligible Utahns to get vaccinated. The number of Utah patients hospitalized with COVID-19 surpassed 250 this week, the highest since mid-February, and ICUs at Utah’s referral centers have passed the state’s utilization warning threshold. The healthcare leaders say nearly all the hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, many of whom are in the 25 to 65 age groups.
“For those of you who are thinking about getting the vaccine, now’s the time,” said Mark Briesacher, MD, Intermountain’s chief physician executive. “There’s no doubt about that. With the variants, with the increase in cases, now’s the time to make that decision. And we’re here to answer any questions you may have about that.”
Here are answers to some common questions related to COVID-19 vaccines:
- When will vaccines get full FDA approval and should I wait? Pfizer and Moderna have both asked the Food and Drug Administration for formal approval of their COVID-19 vaccines. The FDA will likely take several months to review all the follow-up data from phase 3 clinical trials before granting approval. The vaccines have already been given to millions of people and have been shown to be effective with extremely rare severe side-effects, so experts are encouraging everyone who’s eligible to get the vaccine now for protection against the deadly virus and not wait for full approval. Read more.
- Will we need booster shots of the vaccine? Experts have been closely monitoring the data for signs the vaccines’ effectiveness is wearing off. So far, the effectiveness is holding strong and it appears we won’t need booster shots any time soon. Read more.
- When will vaccines be available for children under the age of 12? Pfizer and Moderna are both conducting clinical trials for children ages 6 months to 11 years. Pfizer has stated they think they’ll have enough data by September to submit an emergency use authorization request to the FDA. The request could be approved by late September or early October. Although COVID-19 more often affects older adults, nearly 81,000 Utah children have had COVID-19, 729 of those were hospitalized, and two died from the disease, so experts recommend children also be vaccinated when they’re able. Read more.
- Does the vaccine work against the Delta variant? So far vaccines appear to be effective against the Delta variant, although an early study released this week by Israel’s health ministry—which is unpublished and very limited in scope—suggested the Pfizer vaccine might be slightly less effective at preventing serious illness and hospitalization from the Delta variant. Until more data is gathered in a transparent and verifiable way, the figures and results of studies like this shouldn’t be seen as conclusive. The variant appears to be 40% to 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant and causes more severe disease, so experts fear serious outbreaks among unvaccinated populations. Read more.
- Do vaccines cause life-threatening side-effects? Severe reactions to the vaccine are very rare but have occurred. So far, the side effects are all treatable and experts say the risk of a negative side-effect from a vaccine is much less than the dangers of getting COVID-19. Read more from the CDC and see some details below:
- The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has received more than 5,700 reports of death among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine, but there are so far only three deaths that appear to be cause by a vaccine. These deaths were from blood clots that occurred after people got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
- Severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, are possible after any vaccination and has occurred in approximately 2 to 5 people per million vaccinated in the U.S.
- There have been 518 confirmed reports of myocarditis or pericarditis among people ages 30 and younger after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Experts are still investigating to determine if the heart problems were caused by the vaccine.
- Do people who’ve had natural infection from COVID-19 still need to be vaccinated? Intermountain infectious diseases specialist Brandon Webb, MD, says, “Because coronavirus variants are constantly mutating and immunity generated by natural infection is inconsistent from person to person, vaccination remains very important, even for individuals who’ve had COVID-19. Vaccination is more reliably effective at protecting individuals from variant strains and for generating herd immunity that forms an effective barrier against variant strains.” Read more.