Weekly COVID-19 Update: ‘Our way to end this pandemic’ — JoCo Health officials anticipate arrival of vaccine – Shawnee Mission Post

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The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment says it’s time to start thinking about getting vaccinated for COVID-19, though it could be some time before most residents will have access to a vaccine.

“This vaccine is our way to end this pandemic, to get life back to normal,” said JCDHE local health officer Joseph LeMaster this week in a video update.

LeMaster said while most Johnson Countians will not have access to the vaccine when it first arrives, it is still important to understand that the vaccine is safe and to begin making plans to get it in the coming weeks and months.

“We will be prioritizing those who are frontline health care workers and working with patients in long-term nursing facilities, as well as residents of those facilities,” he said.

Common side effects you can expect after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine include achiness or slight fever, LeMaster said, noting these are similar to the side effects experienced after many vaccines.

The vaccine will be administered to patients in two separate doses, spaced several weeks apart.

Vaccine arrival for Johnson County still unknown

When asked Tuesday about a vaccine delivery timeline for Johnson County, JCDHE spokesperson Barbara Mitchell said she didn’t have that information. And Nancy Tausz, the Health Services Division Director for Johnson County, said she did not know how many doses the county could expect to receive in the initial shipment.

“And we can not order vaccine right away, that will be determined by the feds and then sent down to the state,” Tausz said in a JoCo on the Go podcast Tuesday. “So we will just have to wait and see.”

According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment the state is expected to receive about 24,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in its first shipment in mid-December. By the end of December state health officials say they expect to have more than 150,000 doses.

KU Health will store vaccine, could start dosing workers as soon as Friday

Officials at the University of Kansas Health System say front-line workers there could begin receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Friday, a day after the FDA is set to vote on approving it.

Dr. Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, said he was fully confident the COVID-19 vaccine would receive an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA Thursday.

“By any measure this is a home run,” Poland said during a University of Kansas Health Systems press briefing Tuesday.

Steve Stites, chief medical officer of KU Health Systems, chimed in that the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is so high it’s comparable to well-established vaccines for illnesses like small pox and the measles.

Stites said several steps must be taken before the initial shipment of the Pfizer vaccine will reach residents across the Kansas City metro.

• First, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, determine the number of dosages allowed per state.
• Next, vaccine doses will be shipped to five storage locations in Kansas, one of which is at the University of Kansas Health Systems.
• Then hospitals and local health groups will prioritize who they think should receive a vaccination with this initial shipment. At the KU Med Systems initial doses will go to frontline workers who are actively taking care of COVID-19 patients, Stites said.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control said the KU Health Systems can store up to 35,000 doses.

The New York Times and Associated Press reported this week that the Trump administration passed up Pfizer’s offer for an additional doses of the vaccine that could have locked in 100 million doses on top of the 100 million doses set to be distributed now.

But Stites pointed out in Tuesday’s briefing that the COVID-19 vaccine is a two-dose regimen, so the 100 million doses that will be distributed in this initial round will cover roughly 50 million Americans.

Poland called the decision not to secure more doses “puzzling.”

“Obviously you’d like to have as much of it as possible,” Poland said.

In the meantime, as local officials wait for the approval they are working to disprove myths and conspiracy theories about the safety of the vaccine, including that it causes sterility, or has built-in tracking capabilities.

“Please do not be misled by the people who are not scientists and seek to sway you for their political or religious or economic ideologies,” Poland said.

Key trends in JoCo

Reported COVID-19 cases in the county were down over the last week.

There were 1,963 new COVID-19 cases reported the week of Nov. 29, down 16.5% over the previous week. The county currently has 696 cases per 100,000 residents, a decrease of about 8%.

Health officials have said they still expect to see a slight decline in reported COVID-19 cases following the decrease in testing over Thanksgiving and are still bracing for a potential rise in new cases in coming days following the holiday last month.

Recent COVID-19 coverage

JCDHE announcements