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Shelby Kroona, Hamilton County Public Health Administrator, provided an update on the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Hamilton County Tuesday morning at the Board of Supervisors meeting at the courthouse.
Kroona told supervisors that Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday, for people aged 16 and older.
“In the service of health, we currently do not have the Pfizer vaccine, but Thrifty White Pharmacy and Hy-Vee Pharmacy have an adequate supply”, she said. “Plus, it’s available at every Walmart, Target drug store, and any other drugstore in the state.”
Kroona said his department continues to see more positive COVID tests. His department also continues to contact trace cases in the county.
“There is a misnomer that says there is no contact tracing going on. The Hamilton County Board of Health voted to keep my staff and I contacting the investigators, ” she said.
She admitted that the contact tracing process has become much more difficult.
“We spend a lot of time talking about households and not necessarily about those they could have infected outside of their homes. No one is willing to share what events they attended, so we spend most of our time talking about each household ”, she said.
The difference between COVID-19 seen at the start of the pandemic and the Delta variant is how more contagious the variant is.
“Research found that at the start of the epidemic, one person who tested positive infected two people,” she said. “With the Delta variant that we see in Hamilton County and across the state, one person infects six people. And then those six each infect six others. You can see how it explodes exponentially.
Kroona also talked about a booster dose for people who are immunocompromised. The FDA has approved a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.
“The problem is, a lot of people don’t understand what severely immunocompromised means. The CDC has issued guidelines. This is for people who are on active cancer treatments, if they have a tumor or cancer in the blood. If they have received an organ transplant or are taking medication to suppress the immune system around the organ transplant ”, she said. “If you have had a stem cell transplant, if you have advanced or untreated HIV, or if you are on active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids. “
She said the CDC recommends that these patients discuss the third dose with their treating physician.
“This third dose should be generated by your doctor,” she said. The health service will also be able to administer the third dose of Moderna, but only after finding out whether the patient has had the conversation with their doctor.
Kroona said there was no indication yet on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as to whether an additional dose would be needed.
“And you can’t switch between J&J and mrna vaccines”, she said. “They will have to wait for further advice from the CDC.”
Last week, President Biden announced that the booster doses would be available to the general public from the end of September.
“After September 20, anyone who has received a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine will be eligible to receive a booster dose. It will be a personal preference and a personal choice ”, she said. “The boosters should be issued 8 months after the second dose. “
The first reminders will go to those who received their second doses around the first part of 2021 – primarily healthcare workers and essential workers, and a portion of the population 65 and older, she explained.
“(The Department of Health) is getting ready for the booster shots, trying to put plans in place at this point,” she said.
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