Johnson and Johnson as well as Moderna Covid vaccines available in the office now

 

Moderna and Johnson and Johnson Covid vaccines available now. All vaccines are free of charge for patients as well as non patients. Appointments required.

Please note: I will be out of the office from June 17th to 25th ‌

COVID NEWS, how is it going? Good, could be better.

 

What’s new? I get a lot of questions about Covid vaccines and I try to put out information as often as I have time to. I hope you find this information interesting. More than 500 people a day are still dying in the US from Covid. This is progress but it is not normal! Pfizer Covid vaccine has been approved for 12 to 16 year olds and Moderna is expected to be approved within the week for the same age group. If you would like your adolescent vaccinated (especially those headed off to college) please call the office and schedule. Maryland has a scarcity of J and J vaccine, presumably partly because of the Baltimore plant being cancelled. All the J and J available in Maryland right now is made overseas. We have been promised some this week. Stay tuned. As expected, more side effects of the vaccines are cropping up irrespective of which vaccine. (Not surprising based on the method of action). I still maintain that people should get the best vaccine of the three depending on their health circumstances and what is available. Interestingly, more than 10,000 vaccinated people in the US have still contracted Covid. Fortunately most of those people had mild disease, however 160 of these people still died. This must be viewed in the context of the death rate of those who have not been vaccinated. Plus ten thousand is a very small number compared to the hundreds of millions who have been vaccinated. It's way better than any flu vaccine we have had thus far. "The number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that will be prevented among vaccinated persons will far exceed the number of vaccine breakthrough cases." CDC Can I get other vaccines at the same time as the Covid vaccine? No. Because of the lack of data at the moment the recommendation is that you wait at least 2 weeks before and after other vaccines. The only exception would be vaccines that have to be given in an emergency like Rabies or Tetanus. So if you child is going to college factor in the meningitis and other shots as well as time for the Covid shots. Plan ahead. Nearly 2.8 million residents have registered for Ohio's Vax-a-Million vaccination incentive program, with participants hoping to win either the $1 million prize for adults or a full-ride college scholarship for children. Finally, I am doubly proud of this announcement: Leading coronavirus scientist, Kizzmekia S. Corbett, to join Harvard Chan School to continue vaccine development research Harvard Chan School news / May 11 Corbett will be an assistant professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious diseases and head the new Coronaviruses & Other Relevant Emerging Infectious Diseases (CoreID) Lab. Watch a video (https://youtu.be/J6gWLoYhqUk) welcoming her to the School. I am very proud that a young black female scientist can rise to such prominence (she went to UMBC) and also proud of my Alma Mater (Harvard School of Public Health) for making such an historic appointment after such a tumultuous year. Recognizing her contribution to the mRNA Covid vaccine. Thanks to all of you who read my emails and send me messages that encourage me to keep writing them! I will be out of the office from June 17th to 28th. Please get you refills and concerns taken care of before that time.

Breaking news! Adolescent vaccine approved. Moderna and J and J available in my office

 2 pieces of breaking news!

The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine today for adolescents ages 12 to 15. It already had an EUA from the FDA for 16 years old and up.

The Pfizer adolescent vaccine is not yet a done deal, though.

It still has to be approved by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That committee will decide on Wednesday whether to recommend use of the vaccine in this age group and give the green light.

Most health experts have said the US needs to vaccinate children before the COVID pandemic can truly be brought under control. The 12-to-15-year-old group represents 17 million people, about 5% of the population. Thus far, 58% of US adults have had at least one dose of a vaccine and 34.8% of all Americans are fully vaccinated.

The American Academies of Pediatrics and Family Practice agree that “the vaccine is a hopeful sign that adolescents will be able to begin to experience all the activities that are so important for their health and development”.

Pfizer submitted data to the FDA in late March showing its mRNA vaccine was 100% effective at preventing COVID-19 infection in children ages 12 to 15 in clinical trials.

Children tend to have milder Covid-19 disease than adults but it is still not a benign disease in this age group. Thousands of children have been hospitalized, and hundreds have died.

Moderna and Johnson and Johnson/Janssen are also doing trials in people under 18 and are expected to request approval later in the summer. This is great news for getting back to school in September.

The other piece of breaking news is that even though I requested Johnson and Johnson, Moderna was delivered this morning. Not a big deal, apparently just a glitch in the (government) system. So we will have J and J next week. You can make an appointment for either at my office. Moderna has to be in batches of ten so I will give those out on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Stay tuned!