Readers express frustration, concerns about vaccines

We’re collecting and answering your questions about the COVID19 vaccines. Submit your question using this form or email Lois Solomon at lsolomon@sunsentinel. com.

Here are the most recent questions from readers:

Q. “I am considered a high risk patient included in the governor’s executive order for the vaccine. I am 63. Why is it not available at vaccine sites now? I just learned Cleveland Clinic in Weston offered it but no appointments are available now. When will I get it as out-ofstate people and foreigners have received it before me!!!” — Judith Sweeney

A. There’s been a lot of frustration among people under age 65 who have serious illnesses and were included on the state’s priority list for the vaccine but have not been able to get in the queue. Here’s what a spokesman for the Broward office of the Florida Department of Health told me about this issue.

“The Executive Order of the Governor provides that during this first phase of vaccine administration, ‘all providers administering any COVID-19 vaccine shall only vaccinate the following populations: Long-term care facility residents and staff; Persons 65 years of age and older; and health care personnel with direct patient contact. Hospital providers, however, also may vaccinate persons who they deem to be extremely vulnerable to COVID19.’ “

He added: “The Department of Health-Broward is not a hospital provider. DOH-Broward will begin to serve additional priority groups when expanded through Executive Orders or State Policy. Individuals under age 65, who are not front-line healthcare workers but believe that they are eligible for vaccination because they are extremely vulnerable to COVID19, should monitor local hospital websites to determine when new appointments are available.”

Jackson Health System patients under 65 will be able to get vaccinated soon through that Miami hospital system. There are several catches: You have to be 55 or older, live in Miami-Dade County, have

a Jackson physician and suffer from one of seven medical conditions. But it shows that hospitals are trying to open up spots for people they know desperately need them.

Q. “How will attendees to the Super Bowl prove they’ve been vaccinated?” — Adrian Weidmann, Ormond Beach

A. There’s no vaccination requirement for the Super Bowl, which will be Feb. 7 in Tampa. However, there will be 7,500 vaccinated health care workers at the game.

There’s no requirement for anyone else to have completed their two doses, which all the health care workers will have done. The stadium has a capacity of about 66,000, but only about 22,000 are going to be allowed in to maintain social distancing. Ticket-holders will be spaced out in pods and everyone will be wearing their masks.

Q. “My wife and I have both received our second injections. In two weeks, can we be indoors and unmasked with friends of ours that have also received their second shot and they are also two weeks past getting their second injections?” — Bill Hilsenrath

Q. “Once I have both shots, can I go visit my kids/grandkids in another state without quarantining?” — Janet Waksman

A. It’s so tempting to start seeing friends and family again, but it’s not a good idea at the moment. Although the vaccines are good at preventing serious COVID-19 symptoms, they are imperfect, according to Florida Atlantic University family medicine professor Dr. Joanna Drowos, and you could contract an infection or spread it to others.

“Both the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna vaccines showed approximately 95 percent efficacy at preventing symptomatic disease in clinical trials after the second dose,” she said. “While this is a high number, we should be mindful that they’re not 100 percent effective. There’s still a small chance one of you could pick up the virus from a vaccinated friend and develop symptoms. Although the vaccines are very good at preventing the severe symptoms that land people in the hospital, experts can’t rule out the possibility that you’ll develop milder symptoms, which could conceivably turn chronic. The risk is low. However, you need to factor in your underlying health, and the risk to you if you were to contract an asymptomatic infection, as well as the risk of spreading infection to others, before making decisions about activity post-vaccine.”