Experts on Wednesday answered dozens of them during a Facebook Live video event. They explained what they know about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine that’s been approved by federal regulators and how it might be distributed in the coming days, weeks and months.
The first COVID-19 vaccines have been shipped and are making it to people on the health care front lines, a development that marks the beginning of the end of the difficult pandemic.
But you probably have questions.
Dr. Robert Citronberg, Advocate Aurora Health Executive Medical Director of Infectious Disease and Prevention, said the vaccine trials didn’t reveal serious safety concerns in the short term
“The vaccine is incredibly effective. It proved 95% in preventing COVID-19 in participants in the trial,” Dr. Citronberg said. “We expect there to be side effects. The side effects tell us for the most part that your body is responding to the vaccine and creating antibodies, which is exactly what we want.”
“We know that COVID makes people sick, very sick, (you can) die from it,” he said. “The risks of COVID, getting sick from COVID and dying from COVID far outweigh the risks of the vaccine.
Jane Dus, Regional Chief Nursing Officer and co-leader of Advocate Aurora’s COVID vaccine strategy, said front line health care team members will be first to get the vaccine, and the general public will come later. More detailed guidelines are coming soon.
“I think the key point here is that everyone who wants the vaccine will get the vaccine eventually,” Dus said. “We believe that people will get the vaccine within four to six months.
You can watch the full video, with lots of answers about vaccine myths, why the vaccines require two doses, and what you need to know about children.
