A phial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Royal Victoria Hospital, in Belfast, Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. The United Kingdom, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, is beginning its vaccination campaign, a key step toward eventually ending the pandemic. (Liam McBurney/Pool via AP)
The FDA advisory panel is meeting Thursday to discuss the emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. At today’s meeting, the panel will look over the data to determine if the shot is safe and effective enough to be cleared for emergency use.
“Vaccination is pretty much the only way out of this, if we want to prevent further spread, death, long-term complications, swamping our hospitals, overwhelming our health-care workers; and we have these really effective vaccines coming down the pipeline,” said Dr. Sarah Hall, a public health professor at Utah Valley University.
Hall says she trusts the process. She pointed out the unprecedented international cooperation and funding, and willing volunteers. Plus, she said the virus is already widespread in the population, which allowed the clinical data to come back much faster.
But as for everyone getting it, that’s what the FDA Advisory Panel will look at during their meeting.
“For example, there might not have been enough volunteers in the trial to look at pregnant women, children, and people with compromised immune systems. For those people, I suggest we wait and see what the FDA has to say in the next couple of days.”
The FDA will make a decision based on the panel’s recommendation. The CDC is also planning to meet this weekend. Then on Thursday of next week, the process starts over with Moderna’s COVID vaccine.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are what’s called mRNA vaccines. Dr. Hall explained they include a piece of genetic code that gives instruction to your cells, and your immune system creates antibodies to fight off the virus.
“You can’t get COVID-19 from the vaccine, there’s no virus in it,” she said.
Other companies are developing different types of vaccines for COVID-19. They have also gone through rigorous testing. But they won’t require as cold of temperatures to store.
“Your immune response will be similar to if you were naturally infected, but without actually causing the illness or spreading it to others,” she said.
Dr. Hall plans to get vaccinated as soon as she can. She hopes enough people in the community get it as well, in order to create that herd immunity.
“Vaccines will shorten the time it takes us to get past the virus and get back to normal,” she said.
COVID-19 coronaviruses transmitted from person to person. It is a virus that is similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:
Utah’s Coronavirus Information
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Utah Coronavirus Information Line – 1-800-456-7707
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Commonly asked questions, World Health Organization