When Michelle Finucane injected Schaeffer Seabrook with a COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday morning at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, it marked the beginning of an enormous public health undertaking to protect Clark County residents from coronavirus, and return life to normal.
While health care workers will receive inoculation in the coming days and weeks, it’s expected to take months before adults without underlying conditions can get vaccinated.
On Wednesday, PeaceHealth Southwest Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lawrence Neville said it might take six months or longer to get a large majority of the local population vaccinated.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told National Public Radio that he’s optimistic a sense of normalcy could return by the mid-fall, but it will take vaccinating 75 to 85 percent of the population.
This week, PeaceHealth Southwest received around 3,900 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. That vaccine requires two doses given 21 days apart, and does not become fully protective until one week after the second dose.
Under that regimen, the vaccine has been about 95 percent effective in preventing disease, according to clinical trials.
A second coronavirus vaccine from Moderna, which has also been about 95 percent effective, should receive full federal authorization today, boosting the country’s vaccine stash.
Clark County Public Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick said the two vaccines are much more effective than the annual flu shot, Melnick said.
“I believe the vaccines are safe from what I’ve been reading from the clinical trials,” Melnick said. “Those are highly effective vaccines in terms of preventing COVID-19.”
Vaccine rollout
Washington began to move through Phase 1A of its vaccine rollout this week, injecting high-risk health care workers, high-risk first responders and patients and staff at senior care facilities.
There are an estimated 500,000 Washingtonian who fall into Phase 1A, according to the Washington Department of Health.
After Phase 1A, Clark County can begin Phase 1B and vaccinate people of all ages with comorbidities that put them at higher risk, certain essential workers and older adults.
How Washington’s rollout proceeds will be dependent on the speed with which the federal government can supply vaccine doses. Thursday brought drab news on that front as Gov. Jay Inslee said Washington will experience a 40 percent decrease in its vaccine allocation next week.
Instead of receiving 74,100 vaccine doses next week, as originally expected, the state now expects to receive around 45,000 doses.
At this point, it’s unclear how that might impact Clark County’s vaccine supply next week.
Once Clark County has more vaccine bandwidth, it can enter Phase 2, which means inoculating K-12 teachers, school staff and child care workers, people living in homeless shelters or group home for people with disabilities or those who are in recovery, and staff who work at those facilities. All older adults not yet vaccinated would fall into Phase 2, which also includes vaccinations for those in jail or prison and staff who work in jail and prisons.
In Phase 3, Clark County can vaccinate young adults, children and more essential workers. Phase 4 will be for anyone who did not have access to the vaccine in earlier phases.
While the vaccines are proven to be effective at curbing symptoms from COVID-19, Melnick said it’s still possible someone could have the vaccine and transmit the virus. Because of this, people still must follow face-covering and physical distancing guidelines.
An equitable plan
Melnick said equity will be at the forefront of the rollout in Clark County. While health care providers take the lead on procurement and distribution of the vaccine, Clark County Public Health and a vaccine workgroup play a role in ensuring that the vaccine is distributed equitably.
That means priority populations get vaccinated first, and that racial and ethnic minorities have good access to vaccination, Melnick said.
Clark County, and the U.S., have often had gaps in testing availability for Black and Latino people, leading to large health disparities around COVID-19.
“We want to make sure that there is equity in access,” Melnick said.
Fighting misinformation
Another concern around the vaccine rollout is that not enough people will take vaccine for it to create herd immunity, where spread of the virus from one person to another becomes unlikely.
As Fauci said earlier this week, the U.S. could reach the early stages of herd immunity, 50 percent vaccination, by late spring or early summer, before reaching the 75 to 85 percent benchmark in the fall.
One problem with reaching herd immunity in Clark County will be the county’s recent historical trend toward low vaccine uptake.
Last year, when Clark County experienced a 71-person measles outbreak, the county had about a 78-percent vaccination rate for students. That’s about 15 to 20 percent below the herd immunity threshold for measles.
If Clark County fails to create herd immunity for COVID-19, the county could continue to experience outbreaks, like it did with measles.
Dr. Dominic Chan, who’s leading Legacy Health’s vaccine rollout, said health care providers need to address vaccine skepticism respectfully.
“We need to hear the emotions and hear the hesitance, and respond after hearing and acknowledging how people are thinking and feeling,” Chan said.
Chan added that the vaccine, which data and research shows is safe and effective, is “what hope looks like.”
“This how we’re going to get back to dancing in the streets without our mask on,” he said.
In the specific case of the COVID-19 vaccine, it was developed quickly and there was political pressure infused into the rollout, which could increase skepticism.
Social media will spread further misinformation, like it did during last year’s measles outbreak.
Melnick said the speedy rollout and politicization of science makes him more concerned than he has ever been before for vaccine uptake.
Given what the research and experts say about safety and effectiveness, Melnick says people should get the vaccine if they don’t have specific conditions that would make it unsafe for them
“The vaccines are certainly a much better option then getting infected with COVID-19,” he said.
