COVID-19 VACCINATION EDUCATION RESOURCES:  IS THE COVID-19 VACCINE SAFE?  

• How did the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) come to recommend the Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wqk2CrMrh8&feature=youtu.be

• How do you know the vaccine is safe?  

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/vaccines/facts-covid-vaccines-english-508.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html

https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/development-approval-process-cber/vaccine-development-101 

• What are the known side effects and are there unknown side effects?

The CDC provides the following information:

Possible Side Effects:

Low grade fever, sore throat, redness and soreness on skin vaccination site, tiredness, side effects normally last no more than a couple of days.  

Questions about unknown, serious or long-term effects:

The CDC explains that an independent group continues to monitor all the data that comes in and provides regular safety updates.  If a safety issue does arise, they will immediately evaluate whether the issue is related to the vaccine.  

They also indicate the following:

“COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have gone through the same rigorous safety assessment as all vaccines before they were authorized for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration. This includes large clinical trials and data review by a safety monitoring board.

Often patients are concerned about live vaccines. mRNA vaccines are not live vaccines and do not use an infectious element, so they carry no risk of causing disease in the person vaccinated.”

• What agency approves the use of Pfizer?

https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine

• What agency approves the use of Moderna?

https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine

• Fact sheets for Pfizer recipients.

https://www.fda.gov/media/144414/download

• Fact sheets for Modern recipients.

https://www.fda.gov/media/144638/download

• Is it better to get natural immunity or immunity from vaccines?

• There is a potential for long-term health issues after recovery from COVID-19 disease.

• Scientists are still learning more about the virus that causes COVID-19. And it is not known whether getting COVID-19 disease will protect everyone against getting it again, or, if it does, how long that protection might last.

• The vaccine was tested in large clinical trials.

“Both this disease and the vaccine are new. We don’t know how long protection lasts for those who get infected or those who are vaccinated. What we do know is that COVID-19 has caused very serious illness and death for a lot of people. If you get COVID-19, you also risk giving it to loved ones who may get very sick. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer choice.”

• Other medical organizations and health-related government resources for vaccine education.

https://www.aafp.org/family-physician/patient-care/current-hot-topics/recent-outbreaks/covid-19/covid-19-vaccine/patient-education-resources.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ey3WYxQuQ&feature=emb_title

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/vaccines-and-immunization-what-is-vaccination?adgroupsurvey={adgroupsurvey}&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0fr_BRDaARIsAABw4EsAUKmRuffC7cm3xqLvXsGpFdm6sDnZMUhtiMtGZzX7QXtRJv5x6psaAr5DEALw_wcB

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/vaccines-faq#how-will-we-know-if-a-vaccine-is-safe-and-effective