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As the state’s largest privately-owned multi-specialty outpatient clinic, serving South Mississippi, the health and safety of our patients and communities is our number one priority. We take all health issues seriously, including monitoring the spread of the Coronavirus. Please read below for commonly asked questions regarding this viral disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have authorized the use of vaccines to combat the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Currently, there are two different vaccines being produced by drug makers Moderna and Pfizer. Combined, these clinical trials enrolled over 74,000 and, though studies are ongoing, the results appear to show that the vaccines are both safe and effective.
Without immunity, we are left vulnerable to unknowingly spreading the virus and endangering others even while asymptomatic. Vaccination offers us a path toward safety and recovery of our daily lives.
Please see the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the latest information about authorized COVID-19 vaccines.
Currently everyone aged 65 and older and all those with a chronic health conditions are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. Due to the limited vaccine supply coming in from the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), HealthWorks Immunization Clinic, a service of Forrest General Hospital and Hattiesburg Clinic, will no longer be accepting new appointments at this time. When more vaccine allotments are made available, patients will be able to resume scheduling appointments through the online patient portal, Iris. For more information on vaccinations at drive-through sites around the state, please visit the MSDH for a full list of vaccination sites, eligibility, and appointments.
Yes. The Pfizer trial was shown to produce an antibody response in 95% of recipients beginning one week after the second dose. The Moderna trial proved to be 95.2% effective. The responses were the same across age, gender, race, and ethnicities. The Moderna vaccine produced antibodies that were present in the blood for up to three months, but immunity may last longer.
At this time, the recommendation is for everyone 16 years and older to be vaccinated as soon as large quantities of vaccines are available. The Pfizer vaccine can be given to those 16 years and older. The Moderna vaccine can be given to those 18 years and older.
Additional trials are being conducted for children down to the age of 12. Results are anticipated in the spring of 2021.
Even if you have had COVID-19, it is advised that you also get vaccinated. There is not enough information to say if or for how long someone is protected by natural immunity.
Older adults. According to the CDC, eight out of ten deaths reported have been those who are 65 years and older.
Adults of any age with certain underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19. Severe illness from COVID-19 is defined as hospitalization, admission to the ICU, intubation or mechanical ventilation, or death. Those who are at increased risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19:
• Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
• Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Cystic fibrosis
• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
• Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
• Liver disease
• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher)
• Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
• Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell disease
• Smoking
• Type 1 diabetes mellitus
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
Children with the following conditions might be at increased risk for severe illness: obesity, severe genetic disorders, severe neurologic disorders, inherited metabolic disorders, sickle cell disease, congenital (since birth) heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, asthma and other chronic lung disease, and immunosuppression due to malignancy or immune-weakening medications.
We do not yet know who is at increased risk for developing the rare but serious complication associated with COVID-19 in children called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), nor do we know what causes MIS-C.
Black Americans and the LatinX communities are also more susceptible to serious illness, hospitalizations and death from COVID-19. Per the CDC, Black Americans and Latino or Hispanic persons are 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to white non-Hispanic persons.
Yes. Safety is a top priority for all vaccines. While the current vaccines were developed and approved at a much faster pace than other vaccines, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines – as well as all vaccines approved by the CDC and FDA – are required to meet the same very strict standards for safety.
You cannot get COVID-19 from these vaccines. They are different because they are not weakened or inactive virus.
Vaccines today use only the necessary ingredients to be as safe and effective as possible. Each of these ingredients serves a specific purpose to provide immunity, keep the vaccine safe and long lasting, and facilitate the production of the vaccine.
Learn more about the methods and monitoring systems that ensure the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
Side effects may include symptoms such as fever, headache, chills and muscle aches. These normal immune responses are more likely to develop after the second dose. Side effects were less severe in older adults than in younger adults and generally disappeared within a few days. The vaccines were tolerated well across all eligible populations and no serious safety concerns were observed.
At this time, the available COVID-19 vaccines require two doses. The first dose primes your immune system to fight the disease and the second further boosts immunity. Despite feeling bad after the first dose, it is important that you return for your second dose. Participants in the trials said that while the symptoms were uncomfortable, and at times intense, they often went away after a single day.
For more information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit the Centers for Disease Control at:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html
Additional resources:
It can be difficult to know if a source of information is credible. The CDC has resources that will help you learn more about finding credible vaccine information.
Fact: There is not enough information to say if or for how long someone is protected from getting COVID-19 again. More studies are needed to better understand this, but evidence shows that natural immunity from COVID-19 may not last long.
Fact: COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to result in short-term, mild or moderate reactions that subside without complication or lasting injury. Only about 15% of people developed short-lived symptoms at the site of injection. Half of the trial participants experienced immune reactions including headache, chills, fatigue, muscle pain or fever lasting for only a day or two.
Fact: COVID-19 vaccines have shown only short-term, mild reactions that quickly subside. While some people may develop symptoms after being vaccinated, this is a healthy immune response and not an adverse reaction. You cannot become infected with COVID-19 by receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. These are not live-virus vaccines.
Fact: There is no vaccine microchip, and the vaccine will not track people or gather personal information. This myth began as a result of comments by Bill Gates about a “digital certificate” of vaccine records. This was not in reference to any existing technology and no such device has been implemented in or tied to the development, testing or distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Fact: COVID-19 vaccines will not interact with or do anything to the DNA of your cells. As explained by the CDC, vaccines such as the one offered by Moderna use messenger RNA (mRNA) that instructs the cells of the body on how to combat the virus. The mRNA never enters the nucleus of your cells and rapidly breaks down after about 5 minutes.
Fact: The messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccines were not created with and do not require the use of fetal cell cultures.
A vaccine is a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases. It can be prepared from samples of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute. A vaccine acts as a substitute for the virus without inducing the disease.
Vaccine testing and approval is a multi-stage process that involves a three-phase clinical development process. Each phase gradually includes larger groups of people as the vaccine achieves benchmarks for safety and effectiveness. Read more about vaccine testing and approval.
The COVID-19 vaccine ingredients are both common and simple. Each of these ingredients serves a specific purpose to provide immunity, keep the vaccine safe and long-lasting, and facilitate the production of the vaccine. Though precautions should be taken for those with a history of severe allergic reactions to injectable medications, it is important to note that most vaccines do not include thimerosal, mercury, or antibiotics that most commonly cause allergic reactions. For more information, please visit the CDC to find out what’s in vaccines.
The vaccines will not give you COVID-19. They may induce short-term, normal immune responses such as headache, chills, fatigue, muscle pain or fever that only lasts for a day or two. A very small percentage of people developed short-lived symptoms at the site of injection. These are normal, healthy responses that indicate your body is building immunity to COVID-19.
Some vaccines will be issued using a two-dose method. The first dose primes your immune system to fight this new virus that it has never before encountered. After about 14 days, your body begins to develop antibodies. The second dose then strengthens that immune response by encouraging the body to produce even more antibodies.
Each vaccine trial has gone through the same strict requirements that exist for all vaccine approvals. The federal government has been working closely with vaccine developers to make one or more COVID-19 vaccines available as soon as possible.
There will be fees for administering the shots but the vaccine itself will be offered at no charge to the American people. Please check with your insurance provider before visiting to see what you may be responsible for paying.
While we learn more about the protection provided by the COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC recommends using all tools available to us to prevent the spread of this disease including the use of face coverings, washing hands often, and staying at least 6 feet away from others. Currently, there is not enough information to recommend abandoning these precautions. Once experts understand more about how many people get vaccinated and how the virus is spreading, they can then make that decision.
Herd immunity – the term used to describe when a virus is unlikely to spread – varies by disease. Experts do not currently know how many people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19.
For more frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit:
