Hoffman discusses vaccine choices
During a virtual presentation hosted by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Humboldt State University on Monday afternoon, Public Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman took questions from more than 100 members of the public on the county’s vaccination efforts. Hoffman detailed how each of the vaccines work and debunked common misconceptions surrounding COVID-19.
“When this first started last February and March, I think if you told anyone in public health that we would have a vaccine a year later that’s already rolled out to 10% to 15% of the population, nobody would have said that was possible,” Hoffman said. “This is an extraordinary feat that has happened. The speed at which these vaccines were created and the speed at which we’re getting them out are both unprecedented.”
Hoffman explained how each of the vaccines work individually. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are both mRNA vaccines, a new type of technology, while the newly approved Johnson and Johnson vaccine is “more of a traditional type of vaccine with an adenovirus delivery system,” Hoffman said.
“One of the reasons they’ve been able to develop (the mRNA vaccine) so quickly is that in the past, the way vaccines have been developed is we look for the proteins called antigens, the antigens are the things that your body recognizes on a virus or a bacteria,” Hoffman said. “We can clip off a little bit of that protein and we put it inside of the vaccine, that’s what gets injected into you and then your body recognizes it and makes a response.”
It is a very difficult process to find the proteins that elicit the correct response, Hoffman said.
“Your cell machinery helps translate that mRNA into the spike protein, so your body is actually making the spike protein itself. The spike protein then generates the immune response and your body’s immune system remembers,” Hoffman said. “If and when you eventually become infected with the coronavirus in the future, your body can fight it off much more easily.”
Since the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is more like a traditional vaccine, Hoffman said it is not subject to strict refrigeration requirements like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is also a single dose and will make wide distribution more feasible.
“All three of these are amazing candidates and really offer great protection for our population,” Hoffman said.
Since the vaccines were developed so quickly, Hoffman said, some people are suspicious of their safety.
“The biggest question on everybody’s mind is, ‘Are these vaccines really safe?’ The simple answer is yes, they are absolutely safe,” he said. “… All three of the vaccines in the United States have gone through rigorous phase one, two and three trials and multiple safety reviews.”
As the vaccine rollout continues, Hoffman said this month the state and the county will focus on people ages 16 to 64 with medical conditions and underserved groups such as the Latinx community, as well as homeless and incarcerated populations.
“Another piece here in Humboldt County that we’re looking very closely at is the geographic disparity. How do we get into the pockets of rural Humboldt County that are harder to reach because they’re hours away from our population centers or they’re on roads that are really difficult? So that’s another piece that locally here in Humboldt County we’re looking at very closely,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman encouraged people to sign up for a vaccine through the county’s online interest form. The county will shift to the state’s platform My Turn later this month, Hoffman added.
Taking questions from the community, Hoffman discussed the timing between doses and how long the vaccine will be effective.
“How critical is the administration the second to be exactly 21 or 28 days, is there a tolerance? We are seeing with all the delays in the shipping and the timing of the vaccine that there are folks who are right now getting delayed from their second shot. Most vaccines are not quite so prescriptive and when that second dose comes we do give an absolute minimum date but we usually don’t have a maximum date,” Hoffman said.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends getting the second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna within 42 days of the first dose. However, Hoffman said the CDC has not found any evidence of concern if there are more than 42 days between doses.
“Are we going to need to have an annual vaccination like the flu? There’s no data yet since the first folks who got the vaccine have only been about six to eight months out from their vaccination status but I’d say there’s cautious optimism among the scientists who’ve developed these that it should last for at least a year,” Hoffman said. “Will we need to get booster shots yearly? I think there’s probably a good chance that just like the flu, the coronavirus can mutate very frequently. And that’s one of the reasons that we have to update flu shots yearly.”
More information on COVID-19 in Humboldt County can be found at humboldtgov.org/2872/Vaccine-Info.