MOUNT VERNON – Knox Public Health expects to receive its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine this week, Health Commissioner Julie Miller said in the Department's Facebook video.
"We're slated to receive the Moderna vaccine," Miller said. "That is the one that does not require ultra-cold storage."
The county may also get some Pfizer/Biotech vaccine later, she stated. That vaccine has to be stored in extremely low temperatures.
Although the vaccine could arrive this week, it may be next week before it is distributed.
"We will get the vaccine out as soon as we can," Miller said. "I suspect it may be right after the first of the year if not prior to."
Health care workers routinely involved in the care of COVID-19 patients, along with staff and patients of long-term care homes and emergency medical services workers will be among the first to receive the vaccine.
"EMS are many times the first to respond to an ill patient with a respiratory issue," Miller said. "We want to make sure they're vaccinated."
EMS workers will help Knox Public Health with vaccinations, she added.
"Once we vaccinate them, they can help us go out into the community and help vaccinate others," Miller said.
When the vaccine is available to the general public, Knox Public Health will probably have large drive-through clinics that can vaccinate many people quickly, she said.
"Even if you've already tested positive, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the vaccine manufacturers are strongly suggesting that you still get the vaccine," Miller said. "The medical community has still not determined how long immunity lasts after COVID illness. Once you get the vaccine, it helps to boost your immunity."
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are two-dose regimens, she noted.
"Some people may have side effects," Miller said; such as pain and swelling at the injection site similar to that which may result from other vaccines.
Even after people are vaccinated, they will still need to wear masks, the commissioner stressed.
"Not everyone will have received the vaccine, and you will not have full immunity after one dose," Miller stated. "Until you get that second dose, you are still at risk of becoming ill with COVID."
Not until 60-70% of residents have been vaccinated will a world without masks begin to emerge, she said; noting that another benefit of masks is that they also protect people from colds and the flu.
