Unanswered questions about COVID vaccines have prolonged people’s hesitancy to get their shots and caused vaccination rates in North Carolina to plateau.
Last week, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck spoke with a UNC expert about some of those vaccine questions.
Early CDC data and COVID case count numbers show all three approved vaccines are highly effective in preventing deaths and hospitalizations from the virus. Despite this research, many people are concerned about potential side effects and the speed at which vaccines were developed.
Dr. Cynthia Gay is a UNC researcher and associate professor of medicine at the division of infectious diseases. She said these vaccines have been proven to be highly effective and that any side effects from the COVID vaccines are no different than the side effects from any other vaccine.
“I would say most of us would consider the efficacy of these vaccines to be a homerun and within a very short amount of time we’re really grateful,” Gay said. “There are very few safety concerns.”
Gay said there are several reason researchers developed vaccines so quickly. Not only were the projects heavily funded, but other areas of research were largely shut down when the pandemic began.
“Really the reason we were able to get these vaccines so much quicker than in the past was really two main things. One was resources and by that, I mean funding and people. The other was technology,” Gay said.
Gay said she believes the speed of vaccine development is something to be grateful for, rather than question. She said that is especially true because of the transparency of the development process.
“In a lot of ways these vaccine trials were under a microscope in a way that other clinical trials have never been,” she said. “So I’m hoping that will provide some reassurance to a lot of folks.”
As of now, COVID vaccines are only FDA approved for emergency use. Moderna and Pfizer have both applied for full approval, which would improve availability and public confidence.
Gay said emergency use for vaccines does not indicate a lack of safety.
“It’s not really a new concept.” Gay said. “I think it’s new for a public health perspective like this where we were using it for vaccines and trying to roll it out on such a widespread basis.”
The reason for the emergency authorization is FDA officials thought the vaccines would save lives and prevent hospitalizations. The resulting COVID-19 trends show that to be true.
Beyond hesitancy, another reason people have not yet received their shots is access. Gay said access can be improved by distributing vaccines to rural areas and ensuring people don’t have to take off work.
“I think we will make some progress there as people take vaccine administration more locally and really remove some of the barriers for folks,” she said.
Gay said while there is less transmission of the coronavirus, it is still important for people to get vaccinated to protect yourself and others, especially with new virus variants on the rise.
For more information, on vaccines Gay recommends visiting here.
Featured Photo via Robert Willett/The News & Observer
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