Kelly Kenoyer
Samaritan Health has begun administering the COVID vaccine at the Linn County Fairgrounds, and has so far given out more than 1,000 doses there.
In a presentation on Jan. 21, Dr. Adam Brady, an infectious disease specialist, said the clinic could scale up to 1,000s of pokes per day, if Samaritan can get access to sufficient supply.
Currently, eligible recipients can sign up on the Linn County Health Department website, although appointments fill up quickly. The Fairgrounds clinic is open for three days a week and requires an appointment.
Teachers are set to begin vaccinations on Jan. 25, with plans for the elderly to begin vaccinations Feb. 8, starting with those over 80 years old.
Brady said Oregon has so far vaccinated about 5% of its population, but 75% would be needed for herd immunity. He added that Linn, Lincoln and Benton counties are at between 4 and 5% vaccination rates for the first dose.
A recent poll by Oregon Business & Industry Foundation found that 68% of Oregonians plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19, while 26% indicated they did not plan to. The results varied significantly by age, race, political party, and income, with the 80% of the elderly answering in favor of vaccination. People of color were 56% in favor, compared to 72% of whites, and 48% of Republicans indicated they would, compared to 88% of Democrats.
Brady spent a lot of time in the presentation addressing “misinformation” about the COVID vaccine and addressing specific concerns related to news coverage, starting with concerns about dangerous allergic reactions.
While the vaccines have produced a few cases of allergic reaction, there have only been 11 cases of anaphylaxis per 1 million doses distributed, and no reported fatalities, he said. Most of the side effects from receiving a dose are evidence of the body’s immune response, so soreness and fevers are actually a positive sign that the vaccine is working, he said.
“The first dose of these vaccines is really to prime the immune system and the second dose is what we call a boost to really get the full benefit. You need to have that second dose to really ramp up the immune response.”
He added that rumors about the vaccine causing infertility are completely unfounded.
“No long-term serious side effects have been reported with this sort of technology,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of experience with the first and now second doses of these vaccines, and they’re showing no real concerning safety signals.”
On a similar note, Brady said that rumors of fetal tissue in the mRNA vaccine aren’t true.
“There are no fetal tissues in the mRNA vaccines. They don’t require fetal tissue for development,” Brady said. “There are multiple agencies that have come out and said that you do not have to be concerned about this.”
There’s also the question of how long immunity lasts: the flu vaccine is effective for about six months, for instance. Brady said natural immunity from a prior infection lasts approximately “six to eight months, if not longer.”
“Initial studies of the vaccine-induced immune response, when you compare it to something that’s recovered from COVID-19,” he said. By comparison, “the person who has the vaccine likely has an equal if not more robust number of antibodies.”
While there aren’t long-term studies on ongoing immunity, Brady said “it’s a good bet” that immunity lasts at least six to eight months.
He also addressed concerns about the new mutations of the virus, most notably the British variant which has begun to spread in the United States.
Those mutations involve changes to the genetic code for the spike protein, which is the part of the virus that the Pfeizer and Moderna vaccines are based on.
“The consensus is that the vaccines available and people that have a natural infection should be able to handle and diminish infection from this virus,” Adams said.
He was more concerned about the South African variant of the virus, which is not yet in the United States and hasn’t been as closely studied as the British variant.
“They’re concerned that this virus could evade immune responses from the vaccine, but we don’t know to the extent and what that actually means, clinically.”
The British variant has been detected throughout the United States, including at least one case in Oregon. It doesn’t make people sicker, Brady said, but it’s much more infectious than the original virus.
“The CDC does think that this may become the dominant variant we see in the United States as soon as March, depending on vaccine rollout and speed,” Brady said. He added that the increased infectiousness of the new variant means there are likely to be more cases, he said, which could lead to more severe disease and more deaths.
“Widespread availability for those that are under 65 or without medical conditions is not really expected until late spring or early summer.”