Dr Rai describes the experience of the COVID vaccine

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (WBAY) – The first COVID-19 vaccines have been given to frontline health workers in Green Bay. Prevea Health chief executive officer Dr Ashok Rai was one of the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday. He spoke about his experience on Action 2 News This Morning.

Apart from a sore arm and a headache, he is doing very well. “These are all normal and also excellent. Because that means my body is now developing an immune response to COVID-19, so the fact that I had a sore arm last night is something I celebrated.

Dr. Rai joins us Tuesdays and Thursdays on Action 2 News This Morning. Have a question? Send an email to [email protected].

Check out Dr. Rai’s previous segments here: https://www.wbay.com/health/drrai/

HOW IS DR. RAI FEELING POST-VACCINE?

“I have a little pain in my arm, a slight headache. I’m tired, but it’s because you got me up at 4 am because it’s Thursday. Other than that, I feel good because I feel it works. So that’s a great feeling.

“These are all normal and also excellent. Because that means my body is now developing an immune response to COVID-19, so the fact that I had a sore arm last night is something I celebrated.

EMOTIONAL DAY

“A ton of emotion involved in it. I went home and started to process it all. COVID-19 needs humans to replicate. He needs humans to live. Each vaccinated human is one less host for this virus. So, the virus enters a room and 10 people are vaccinated, the virus dies. Yesterday was the beginning of the end.

A LOW WAY TO DIE

“It might not be you who are dying. Maybe the next person, someone you love. Remember, we can’t have people in the room with you. You are on a ventilator for weeks. Sometimes as much medicine as we give you is like drowning for three consecutive weeks before you die. It’s really horrible to see, to witness. The emotions of witnessing this, you never want to wish on anyone. By going through this, and the families, we want to end this virus. Put death aside. Economic devastation, personal devastation. We want to end this. This vaccination will get us there if everyone gets it.

POSSIBLE ALLERGIC REACTIONS

“It’s very thin, but all the protections, if anything should happen, are there. And it is also very important. And understand that there is a very small percentage. You go through questions and we try to avoid that, and if it does happen, that we are there to take care of you. The three reactions we know, which we consider severe, anaphylactic, have all been treated. Everyone is fine now. It is very important that if you have a history of allergies or reactions to vaccinations that you discuss this with your doctor. That you go to an allergist, but get this injection if you don’t have a history of it. The more people there are, the better off we will be. “

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

“I think our heads are still turning. It took us over three hours to vaccinate 20 people. It may seem like we don’t have our action together, but no, we interrupted it every step of the way to make sure things are running smoothly, to discuss it. Yesterday was a dress rehearsal. Today we will do 90. Tomorrow we will do 90 more. Next week we’ll start making hundreds a day. We will continue to grow. Like I said on Tuesday, aim small, miss small. We want to learn from each step. Label printing, and a great job. It involves a coordinated team of pharmacists, laboratories, nurses and people who welcome you. The unsung heroes behind the scenes – the IT team. So that all entries are correct and orders are correct. It’s just a team effort and a lot of the people I probably haven’t named deserve to be saluted. Took a long time to get 20 yesterday, hopefully shorter to get 90. We snuggle right after to learn each time as it’s a dress rehearsal to take care of our whole community at the to come up.

MODERNA SHIPMENTS

“Super excited, if you think about it, because number one is double the number of vaccines we received this week. Much easier to store. And now we can start getting vaccines in smaller sites, in rural areas. Much of Wisconsin’s health care is rural. Now is our opportunity to spread out of town and vaccinate even more people.

COST OF VACCINE

How much does the COVID-19 vaccine cost?

“That’s a good question. The federal government, through funding for this vaccine, in part was buying this vaccine for you. So you won’t pay anything for the vaccine. The vaccine supplier may charge you a very high price. small amount to the insurance company to administer the vaccine If you do not have insurance it will be forfeited There is no reason not to receive this vaccine.

DROP TEST

Why are COVID-19 testing numbers dropping in Wisconsin?

“I think we’ve let our guard down. Unfortunately, people ignore their symptoms. We see it spreading. We see this Thanksgiving effect. We have seen the numbers for the hospitals go down, but they are not to the point where we are comfortable. Many people ignore the symptoms. That runny nose they think is a cold or allergies, get tested for COVID before you blame anything else. We just don’t test enough people. You can see that. Our percentage of positivity is too high. We need to test more people to understand how many negatives we have as well. It just doesn’t happen. The test sites may be 50% full. We would like to see that percentage of 75 to 80% by the end of the week. I think people have definitely let their guard down.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF VACCINES

What are the similarities and differences between Pfizer vaccine and Moderna vaccine?

“Talk about the first similarity. They are both mRNA vaccines. So similar in design, and exactly similar in mechanism of action. The two are two planes. The Pfizer shot is 21 days apart, Moderna 28 days. That’s how they studied it. Pfizer has been studied in a younger population, therefore 16 years and older. Moderna will be 18 and over.

“The biggest difference for those of us who need to operationalize this is probably the temperature at which they both need to be stored. The Pfizer vaccine at this ultra-cold temperature; Moderna vaccine at normal temperature in your freezer or refrigerator.

“Other than that, the efficiency roughly the same: 94 to 95 percent efficiency. So both incredible. Both have exactly the same security profile. They are both very, very safe.

VACCINE SHIPMENTS

How many vaccines are shipped to states and local centers?

“So it’s a very fluid discussion because we have to see what comes from the federal government in Wisconsin and how it’s distributed. Most are distributed to health care sites. Some are distributed to pharmacies to help immunize people in long-term care. The figures are therefore a little variable. What we know so far: Pfizer’s first round, around 49,700, I think is the number of Pfizer vaccines to hit the state; Moderna, we’re expecting more than 100,000, just over 100,000 next week. We’ll have to see what actually happens and how it’s distributed. “

DOSES

“I think the question of the first dose, second dose comes up a lot. Like it should be. It is a concern. What the federal government has done is withheld that second dose. They have that. No matter what they shipped to Wisconsin, let’s just take the round number, the first 50,000 hits came in Wisconsin, they already had the next 50,000 ready to come to us. They only allow us to store the first snapshot. In 21 days, or hopefully 20 days before Day 21, we’ll have that second chance at hand to do so. They are therefore stored in this way. At least at Prevea the way our mechanism works is that you can’t get up until your second shot is scheduled. A safety backup to this is when you get your vaccine, the Wisconsin Immunization Registry receives an automatic message from our electronic medical record. The first shot was made for this person. And then the condition will also help track when it’s time for the second shot.

WILL THE VACCINE BE WASTED?

“Everyone is worried about the Pfizer vaccine and the temperatures at which it must be maintained. To be honest with you, we’ve been working on this for a month. I really have to see him this week. All their freezers are temperature monitored, alarmed. There are actually these reporting systems on the top of every container to make sure that this vaccine is tasty and frozen, and that it is properly thawed before entering your arm.

VACCINE AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

The brother of a spectator is autistic and will have to be selected to be vaccinated. Will he be able to get it in a hospital?

“We know there will be many special circumstances for patients when they receive their vaccine. And one size doesn’t fit all. What I would recommend is that this person, or anyone else, if you experience such a situation, please contact your primary care physician. They will be able to arrange these certain circumstances. This is not the first time that we have had to face it. It won’t be the last. We want to make sure, once again, that everyone who needs the vaccine – that is, just about everyone – gets the vaccine.

SNOWBIRDS

What if you get the first photo here in Wisconsin and then go to your out-of-state winter home?

“As I explained earlier, the way the federal government works, it works state by state. Those in Washington probably don’t know what a snowbird is. It’s an unfortunate part. I would recommend that you be in the state for both as this is how the hit is awarded and followed. As I mentioned, the Wisconsin Immunization Registry. I’m not saying you couldn’t get the second hit in a different state, but I’m saying your second hit will end up where the first hit was given.

Copyright 2020 WBAY. All rights reserved.