Zoom Screenshot
If you’ve gotten the shingles or flu vaccine before, you can handle a Covid-19 shot.
Four Yale New Haven Hospital doctors brought that message and other vaccination information Wednesday evening to a discussion at the monthly meeting of the Hill South Community Management Team, held over Zoom.
In answer to a question about potential side effects to getting a Covid-19 shot, they reported that side effects have been mild for people so far, and people who receive popularly embraced shingles or flu vaccines have at least as many, if not more, problematic side effects.
The Yale New Haven Hospital team was at its latest stop in a tour of New Haven community management teams designed to answer questions about the vaccine in hopes of making New Haveners more comfortable with getting the shot.
“We’re very excited to talk about the hope that this vaccine gives us,” Josh Onyango said.
Sumitha Raman reported that most often, people who do have side effects report mild problems like discomfort at the injection site, redness, swelling, myalgia, fatigue, headaches, chills, and fever. When she received her first Moderna vaccine dose, Raman experienced slight pain at the injection site, she said. That was it.
These symptoms occur because the body is responding to the vaccine and developing immunity to the disease, Raman said.
Onyango also spoke about the spread of Covid-19 in the community: Around 80 percent of the people who have contracted the coronavirus have had mild symptoms; 15 percent have needed hospitalization and ventilation; 5 percent have gotten critically ill, half of whom died.
Onyango said the vaccine could help prevent long-term problems for “long haulers” who, even after getting over the Covid infection, continue to have prolonged symptoms.
Some people have allergic reactions to the vaccine. It its been recommended that people with severe allergies talk to their doctor before getting vaccinated, said Amed Logrono. Yale protocols requires patients to wait around for at least 15 to 30 minutes after getting the vaccine to watch for allergic reactions. Most allergic skin reactions have been easy to treat, according to the Yale team.
Managment team Chair Sarah McIver asked if patients can choose between the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
“There isn’t a choice. We’re limited by what we have on supply,” Logrono replied.
McIver also asked how seniors with no primary care doctors will be contacted. She knows of at least three in the Hill in that position, she said.
Alder Carmen Rodriguez said she is awaiting a list from the mayor’s office of all residents 75 and older to call and help them schedule appointments. Rodriguez said she will be looking for volunteers to help make calls to the seniors.
Management team Secretary Angela Hatley suggested the antiviral medication Remdesivir, recently approved for emergency use to treat those severely affected by Covid infection, be mass produced.“Why has not more emphasis been put on manufacturing that if you have people dying daily and could benefit right now?” Hatley asked.
The vaccine is a preventive measure, while the medication Remdesivir has been used to treat Covid in severe cases of hospitalization, responded Tracy Rabin.
A vaccination center at the Floyd Little Athletic Center next to James Hillhouse High School will open Monday for members of the public who are in Phase 1B (75 and older), reported Andrew Orefice of Yale New Haven Health (YNHH), who has helped arrange these neighborhood meetings..
Chief of Police Otoniel Reyes and incoming Interim Chief Renee Dominguez joined the meeting Wednesday to share the news of Reyes’ retirement personally and to thank the Hill for supporting Reyes throughout his career.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a kid from the Hill. I got a chance to walk the beat in the Hill, supervise and be a district manager in the Hill, and then be the chief of the city where he was born and raised. I feel very fortunate,” Reyes said.
Reyes is leaving the job in March, handing the reins to Dominguez. She promised the transition will be seamless and said she hopes to “continue all the work that we’ve been doing in moving the city forward and the police department forward.”
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2007764