Transcription:
COVID-19 Vaccines

Melanie Cole (Host):  Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm Melanie Cole, and I invite you to listen to this very important show today, as we discuss the COVID-19 vaccines. Joining me is Anna Robb. She's an Infection Preventionist in Emergency Services at Stoughton Hospital. Anna. I'm so glad to have you back on the show. You are a great guest as always.

So, what do we know about the vaccine as of now? This is one of the more important topics we discuss. Tell us what's going on. What vaccines have been approved? Give us a little rundown on this.

Anna Robb, RN, BSN, CEN (Guest): Yeah, absolutely. So, we started getting vaccine at Stoughton Hospital just over two weeks ago. We are so excited. This really, truly is what we've been waiting for with all of our efforts to socially distance and appropriately quarantine and isolate. This is, the hope that we would get to.

So, we got there and we're here and we're starting to get vaccines, so we've vaccinated Stoughton Health employees in the last two weeks and we're beginning to vaccinate 1-A or tier 1-A members of the community in the next coming weeks. So, the CDC and some other groups have put out recommendations for who gets vaccines first.

And we are, following that ethical framework as rolling vaccine out. We have gotten both types of vaccines that are currently approved under emergency use authorization. So, we first received some doses of Pfizer vaccine, and this week we'll be administering some doses of Moderna vaccine. And these are all first doses. So, people that received the Pfizer vaccine will be coming back three weeks after their first dose for a second dose. And then people this week that receive Moderna will come back in four weeks for their second dose.

They're actually both very similar. So, they both use the same technology, which is the mRNA, which has received a lot of attention. It's a new technology. It's actually quite amazing. Both of them are showing about 95% efficacy when used within the guidelines. The reason for the difference in the timeline of for the second dose really just has to do with how each medication or each vaccine was studied.

So, the study for Pfizer was performed at that three week mark and they received that 95% efficacy using that three week mark. Moderna studied the 28 day or four week mark. And they got similar efficacy with that dosing schedule. So, as people know, we still have a lot to learn. These have been through rigorous clinical trials and the safety and efficacy, the data on that was very strong, but as we continue to expand the number of people vaccinated, we'll continue to learn about dosing schedules and when immunity is likely to hit that 95% mark. Whether or not as we have more and more people vaccinated, we'll have more data about how effective the vaccine is. And we're just excited to continue to push out this vaccine that's been through such rigorous scientific studies already, and then continue to get more information and really, move forward in getting our lives, back to a new normal.

Host: Well, absolutely. And I'm glad to hear health care providers are getting these vaccines. So, what about listeners? Where and when can they expect to get vaccinated? How do you see it playing out for the general public? Can you discuss for us Anna timeline implementation of the vaccine? What plans Stoughton has to let the public know when they can expect to get vaccinated?

Anna: Yeah, absolutely. Truth is that I, we don't have a set timeline right now. So, at Stoughton Health, we're really committed to following the ethical framework that's been provided to us. So, they have set out these tiers where we'll, we're starting with 1-A who are healthcare workers who have risks of exposure in their line of work.

And then the 1-B population, which will be the next group we do includes people 75 and older, and then other essential workers, which is a very, broad category, and will be further defined, hopefully in the next coming weeks. But, here, right now we're just focusing on 1-A.

So, we know that there's a lot of 1-A providers still in our community, which can include dentists and mental health providers that maybe are not affiliated with a healthcare system. And so we're working hard to provide vaccine to those unaffiliated healthcare workers. And as soon as that group of people that we feel that they have been vaccinated and locally in Dane County and in the state, things are moving forward and we feel that we've provided vaccine to the 1-A healthcare providers that want it. Then we'll be moving into phase 1-B. After 1-B, the group gets broader and we'll be doing people ages 65 and up, as well as people that are immunocompromised and then, the general population after that.

So, I don't have a good timeline, but what I can tell you is that, we absolutely here, believe that continuing to vaccinate and vaccination is our way out. And it's so important. And it's literally a life saving dose of medication that we're giving. And so, we are committed to continuing vaccination clinics until everyone that wants a vaccine, has one available to them.

So, we will be working hard to just continue to vaccinate and get through each group. And we will continue to put information out to the public and the community as vaccine becomes available to those different groups.

Host: Anna, you used the word want to get the vaccine? Tell us what's the standard for taking this vaccine? What are you telling people that are hesitant or nervous about it? Because coming up with vaccines is not like it used to be where it took maybe 10 years. They've been working on these kinds of things for years. So, for people that say it happened too quickly or people that are nervous about it, what do you want them to know about the safety and efficacy of this most important vaccine?

Anna: Yeah, that's a great question. So, I think a big part of that is realizing that the scientific studies and the data that was required to get these vaccines to the point where they went to the Federal Drug Administration or the FDA for approval included large amounts of clinical trials, not different sizes than what we would normally see in clinical trials.

So, they pushed that out faster. And I like to use the analogy that if you're going to build a house and your contractor says, it's going to take us a year to get this house done, and you say, you know, I really want it done in three months then, that contractor might say, okay, I can do it in three months, but I'm going to bring more people in to do the work.

We're going to work longer hours. I'm going to bring the experts in and we're going to get that job done faster. So, really, similarly with the vaccine is we made this a priority and we brought the best manufacturers and minds to the game here. And everybody got to work on getting this done quickly. And so I think, when we think about it that way, that really, it's not that we were skipping steps, it's that we put a lot of resources into creating this vaccine quickly. And really, from my standpoint, I'm in awe of what has been accomplished in this short period of time that this technology and this vaccine with this amount of efficacy and reading the reports on it and the studies, I mean, it's really awe inspiring to be honest about what they've managed to accomplish and the data that's come out of that.

So, I think that's important for people to remember or think about when they're thinking about the fact that it happened quickly is just that a lot of resources were brought to the table and really what came out of that is quite miraculous. So, I do understand that some people are still fearful of the vaccine and I can just say that the research and the data that's out there on it, is really good. And I just encourage people to continue to look at validated sources, to look at information from the FDA or the CDC about these vaccines, as opposed to some other sources that are out there that that have some information that sometimes it can cause fear in people. So, sticking with those resources. And then also, I just wanted to mention that, we have a 79% vaccine acceptance among our staff here at the hospital so far, and that doesn't include people that deferred. So, maybe they were in isolation or quarantine for another reason, or had some sort of conflict.

So, we will be continuing to vaccinate our employees. But I just think that's a testament to our belief here about the vaccine is that in two weeks we got 79% of our employees vaccinated. So, people were literally dropping everything they were doing to rush into the hospital to get those doses and they don't just do that to protect themselves. And I think that's the other really important thing to remember when people may be hesitant about the vaccine, but, it's really a selfless act that the more people that become vaccinated, the more we can move forward. So, everyone doing that it's not only protection for yourself, but it's protection for your coworkers and your community and other members of your family. And I think that's just a really important piece to remember when people are considering whether or not to get the vaccine.

Host: So, do you have any final thoughts? I mean, we could have ended right there because you sound amazing and that was a great segue to an ending. But do you have anything else, Anna, that you would really like the public to know about the vaccine, about your health care workers, all the hard work that you've been doing, all the stress this has put you under and how this vaccine has the ability, like you said, at the beginning to get us back to some semblance of normal life?

Anna: I mean, absolutely that is point that we want to make is just that we know that this past year has been hard on everyone and some people really refer to the vaccine as doses of hope, that this has been such a bright spot for us. And I can tell you that there are many people at the hospital working overtime or working extra hours, working so hard to provide these vaccination clinics, you know, we don't have a staff, set up to do vaccination clinics, but we just have people volunteering and coming in on their days off and wanting to help. And it's so important to us to have something finally that we feel like can make a real-life saving difference for people and a difference in our ability to be with family again and all of that. And so people are calling them little doses of hope and we're working so hard, to keep moving forward and getting them out to everyone.

Host: Well, I'm sure you are. And thank you again, Anna, for everything that you're doing and for all of your staff, for keeping the Stoughton Hospital community safe. I thank you personally, and this was a great program and so important. You gave us great information. So, that was excellent that you joined us. And thank you again. That concludes this episode of Stoughton Health Talk. Please visit our website@stoughtonhealth.com. for more information on the COVID vaccine and to get connected with one of our providers. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other Stoughton Hospital podcasts. I'm Melanie Cole. Stay safe.