As more and more Tri-Staters receive one of the two COVID-19 vaccines currently available, doctors are learning more about the side effects that could accompany double-injection treatments. These side effects were strong enough for a small number of vaccinated health professionals to be forced to quit their jobs in the days following the shootings.
But health officials anticipated the possibility and came up with a plan.
It has become widely accepted that the first doses for both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines lead to a certain sensitivity around the injection site, but not much. The second injection of the Moderna vaccine, however, has developed a reputation for presenting a larger handful of COVID-like symptoms – mainly pain, fatigue, chills and fever – for a short time after receiving the vaccine. , while the Pfizer vaccine appears to be milder.
As previously reported by WCPO, local health officials estimate that 20% of those who received the second Moderna vaccine reported more severe side effects from the second injection than the first.
When Northern Kentucky nurse Taylor Poore received her second dose of Modern Monday, she said she could feel the expected increase in symptoms, but they only lasted about eight hours.
“I felt like I was running a low temperature, but nothing, you know, was devastating to the point where I felt like I couldn’t work or, you know, something like that. [I] I felt tired and painful. “
She said she felt normal until the next morning.
But Dr. Meghan Markovich said that even a small minority of vaccine recipients who have to give up work because of its side effects was enough for St. Elizabeth’s hospitals – where she owns a family practice and witnessed the launch of the vaccine. – to stagger when employees received their shots.
“We have provided various appointment data for staff so that they are not staggered, knowing that this could happen,” she told WCPO.
In his 20-member office, Markovich said he was sick of an employee because of the side effects of the vaccine.
“Fortunately, I think this number was quite low and he had to stay home from work,” she said.
In southwest Ohio, while most of the vaccines given were the Pfizer variety – which appears to come with milder side effects than Moderna – there was still a small population of long-term workers who called in sick after the second dose, according to to Peter Van Runkle, executive director of the Ohio Health Care Association.
“I haven’t heard any feedback from members about the really significant reactions,” Van Runkle told WCPO. “What I heard is mainly, yes, I had a few people who stopped, or one or two, usually, or none.”
Van Runkle said he has seen some national recommendations for health care providers to share their vaccinations, but his organization – which represents more than 1,000 long-term care, health care and long-term care – based institutions. the whole country – suggested that the centers will hire staff. vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Especially for long-term care providers, it was the other way around, trying to get people to do it rather than say ‘wait a minute,'” he said.
Van Runkle worries that too much hype surrounding the possible side effects of vaccines could lead to fewer people – including health care workers – choosing to receive the vaccine when it becomes available for the first time.
“Part of the concern among staff and the things that lead to their non-participation has been around the side effects,” he said. “The story you shared from Moderna, that if it spreads, it will create more worries from people, because they are already afraid.”