“I don’t think people realize how big of a deal this is,” he said. “The technology is revolutionary.”
The vaccine rolled out last and this week by Pfizer and Moderna use the messenger RNA (mRNA), which has been researched for the past three decades.
“I was in the camp that we weren’t going to get a vaccine till sometime next year at the earliest, and then to have something with this safety and efficacy profile is just remarkable,” Lamarre said. “Not only is it remarkable that we have a pandemic like this, but we have a vaccine within 10 months that is safe and efficacious but really the technology mRNA can revolutionize vaccine science.”
The Christ Hospital Health Network, which has a campus in Liberty Twp., received 2,500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, and Premier Health’s Atrium Medical Center in Middletown received 1,000 doses of the latest vaccine.
West Chester Hospital, the first in Butler County hospital to receive the Pfizer vaccine, will receive a Moderna vaccine shipment today, according to the hospital.
Middletown Health Commissioner Jackie Phillips became the first one in the city to receive a COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. Phillips said she was excited because she’s ready to go from reporting the number of coronavirus cases to “protecting our community.”
She believes the vaccine will keep residents healthy so everyone can get “back to normal.”
By the end of the year, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the state will receive a few hundred thousand doses of the two vaccines. Part two of the vaccines will be required within three weeks of the first shot.
The science behind the COVID-19 virus vaccine could be studied for vaccines for diseases and viruses like herpes or HIV, said Lamarre.
“It opens up the possibility of vaccines against pathogens that have caused disease for thousands of years, that up until now have not have been possible,” he said.
Credit: Provided
Credit: Provided
There have been a reported 637,032 total novel coronavirus cases in Ohio , the Ohio Department of Health reported on Tuesday. There were 130 reported deaths over the past 24 hours, which brings Ohio’s total COVID-19 death toll to 8,252.
Nearly 35,600 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19, and nearly 5,600 people had been admitted to an ICU. As of Tuesday, 1,160 people were hospitalized in Ohio, most of who (742) were in an ICU.
Medical professionals said access to care is impacted when COVID-19 hospitalizations are high, and ICU beds are filling up as a result.
The first phase of the vaccine rollout includes inoculating frontline healthcare workers and residents at nursing facilities. The next phase is to inoculate those who are 75 and older and other frontline essential workers. The third phase is to vaccinate those who are 65 to 74, and those 16 to 64 with high-risk medical conditions, and other essential workers.
Lamarre and other health experts are calling for the public to continue with mask-wearing, social distancing and diligent hand hygiene.
“We’re still in for some rough months ahead,” said Lamarre. “Until the general public gets significant levels of vaccination, we’re still going to have at least one more surge, if not more, and we’re still going to have hospitalizations. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning, but hopefully the beginning of the end.”
Credit: Provided/Premier Health
Credit: Provided/Premier Health
Pfizer and Moderna this month received the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization to roll out the vaccines. Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneka, the other two companies developing vaccines in the United States, are anticipated to seek the FDA’s approval for emergency use authorization next month.
“The hope is the general public will have the vaccine in February or March, and over the next six months we’ll see a large-scale vaccination,” Lamarre said. “The vaccines are safe, they work and people want this to go away ... but this is the way to make it go away. There’s no other way.”
About the Author
