FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Terrie Davidson
Community Relations Manager
Wickenburg Community Hospital
[email protected]
928-684-3219
Vaccine Availability Update
Wickenburg, AZ, January 25th, 2021 – Wickenburg Community Hospital (WCH) is continuing preparations to open a COVID-19 Vaccination POD. “Progress was made last week as WCH met with county officials, WPD & WFD to conduct logistical planning for a smooth and safe vaccine clinic. WCH has still not received any doses of the vaccine and continues with the required education and training of staff to the State registration and reporting databases as well as planning for the clinic venue.” Karen Smith RN, NMCC, LSSGB Manager, Infection Prevention and Employee Health Chair, Safety Subcommittee at Wickenburg Community Hospital states. “As we prepare to administer vaccines to the community, WCH has received multiple inquiries regarding the vaccine’s safety and would like to help educate the community with the latest medical facts.”
Below are a few myths and facts regarding those myths, Published on January 13, 2021 by John Hopkins Medicine:
MYTH: If I’ve already had COVID-19, I don’t need a vaccine.
FACT: People who have gotten sick with COVID-19 may still benefit from getting vaccinated. Due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, people may be advised to get a COVID-19 vaccine even if they have been sick with COVID-19 before.
There is not enough information currently available to say if or for how long people are protected from getting COVID-19 after they have had it (natural immunity). Early evidence suggests natural immunity from COVID-19 may not last very long. Some scientists believe the vaccine offers better protection for coronavirus than natural infection.
MYTH: Researchers rushed the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, so its effectiveness and safety cannot be trusted.
FACT: Studies found that the two initial vaccines are both about 95% effective — and reported no serious or life-threatening side effects. There are many reasons why the COVID-19 vaccines could be developed so quickly.
The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were created with a method that has been in development for years, so the companies could start the vaccine development process early in the pandemic.
- China isolated and shared genetic information about COVID-19 promptly, so scientists could start working on vaccines.
- The vaccine developers didn’t skip any testing steps. They conducted some of the steps on an overlapping schedule to gather data faster.
- Vaccine projects had plenty of resources, as governments invested in research and/or paid for vaccines in advance.
- Some types of COVID-19 vaccines were created using messenger RNA (mRNA), which allows a faster approach than the traditional way that vaccines are made.
- Because COVID-19 is so contagious and widespread, it did not take long to see if the vaccine worked for the study volunteers who were vaccinated.
- Companies began making vaccines early in the process, even before FDA authorization, so some supplies were ready when authorization was received.
WCH has also received reports of community members not being able to register for their vaccine due to lack of appointments being open. In a news release from ADHS on January 23rd, Arizona passes 400,000 mark in COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, it was confirmed that, “All appointments at the two state-run sites are booked through February…” There is a request to the federal government to increase the number of doses allotted to the state of Arizona in order to increase the number of available appointments, “ADHS requested an ongoing 300,000 additional doses weekly from the federal government. However, the request was denied, and the state, counties and tribal governments were only able to order 169,000 doses.”
Those in groups prioritized for vaccination still need to register for appointments at podvaccine.azdhs.gov or may call 1-844-542-8201.
