We’re hoping for a big turnout at today’s vaccine clinic to guard against COVID-19.
For a community to be protected, it’s recommended that 70-90% of adults be inoculated as soon as possible.
The vaccines available locally — manufactured by Pfizer or Moderna — require two doses, separated by several weeks. Health professionals say the interval does not have to be exact, but the second shot should not come any sooner than the recommended time frame or else it will compromise its effectiveness.
The second dose, which guarantees maximum protection, however, can be administered up to 42 days, or six weeks, after the initial inoculation and be just as effective.
This news is important as states are seeing delays in vaccine shipments due to the winter storm that walloped the country earlier this month. Postponed clinics, therefore, will not put those waiting to receive their second dose at risk.
The large-scale vaccination clinics will follow the state’s scheduling guidelines, said Susan Belt, planning and outreach coordinator for the Southeast Kansas Multicounty Health Departments.
Right now, we’re in Phase 2, which includes those 65 and older, those who work in critical jobs in high-contact situations such as first responders and those who work in congregate settings, such as childcare providers.
Altogether there are five tiers. The website kansasvaccine.gov tells you everything you need to know.
Local clinics can’t be scheduled far out in advance, Belt said, because how much and when vaccines will arrive is not known far in advance.
Each clinic will target a specific population, she said, as they work through the specific tiers.
THOUGH THE END stages of this pandemic are in sight, thanks to the record-breaking development of vaccines, we can not let down our guard.
Health experts caution that until everyone possible gets inoculated they will be susceptible to even more lethal and contagious variants of COVID-19 emerging quickly from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
If our vaccination efforts stall, our progress against overcoming the virus and returning to a normal life could be reversed.
“If we don’t accelerate the pace of vaccinations, we’re looking at an apocalypse,” said Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in an interview with Derek Thompson of The Atlantic. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get ahead of the variants to avoid 1 million deaths by the end of this year.”
We can all help the effort by getting vaccinated ourselves, helping others get the vaccine, and spreading the word.
Conquering Covid is a shared responsibility in which we all have a role.
