Mercer Island MD on building trust in COVID vaccine despite how fast it was developed

The vaccine is here, but that doesn’t mean you can toss the mask, and much has to happen with acceptance before we can truly see the impact on COVID-19. Mercer Island MD Dr. Gordon Cohen joined Seattle’s Morning News to discuss.

“I don’t think we’ll be tossing the mask any time soon. In part, I think it’s because we don’t really have a complete understanding of how well the vaccination is going to work, and the longevity for which it will provide protection from the virus,” he said.

“So let me give an example: working in the hospital now, a number of my colleagues have had COVID — and so they have built up their own natural immunity — obviously are still wearing masks,” he added. “And so I think we just don’t know what the risk is of getting re-infected.”

That said, early studies appear to show that the likelihood of infecting somebody goes down over time.

“So, for example, we have now learned that you can have a COVID positive test for, you know, three months or four months after the onset of symptoms,” Dr. Cohen said. “But you’re not actually infectious during that whole period of time.”

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“The CDC has a number of very good studies that have been done that showed that after about 10 days, they really haven’t able to identify any replication positive coronavirus, meaning that you can still detect the presence of coronavirus, but the coronavirus that they’re detecting isn’t capable of reproducing and creating,” he explained.

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Reports of vaccine side effects

Part of the challenge with the new COVID-19 vaccine is convincing people that it’s safe even though it was reached in what appears to be a short amount of time, and despite reports of side effects after the second shot.

“We’re going to have to build trust in the vaccine,” Dr. Cohen said. “People are going to have to believe that the vaccine, even though it was done in only nine months, is in fact safe. And the good news is that people aren’t dying from getting the vaccine. That’s why it’s considered to be safe. It’s going to require two vaccines about three weeks apart, so you’ll get the first shot, and then three weeks later you’ll have to get the second shot.”

“There’s been numerous reports that people who have participated in the study have said that with the first shot, they end up feeling a little bit flu-ish, but not too bad. And within 24 hours, they feel pretty good. But a lot of people have reported feeling quite sick and having a pretty severe reaction to the second shot of the vaccine,” he said. “… By early January we’ll start to hear about people who are getting their second vaccine and what kind of response they’re having to it. And I’m a little fearful that people will have a negative reaction to it, and it’s going to scare people off.”

Regardless, Dr. Cohen trusts the vaccine and finds it safer than the alternative, and he plans to get it himself as soon as it’s available to him.

“Having said that, the people that have developed it are very smart, very experienced, good scientists, and it has been heavily, heavily reviewed,” he said. “And I do think it’s safe, and I think that’s the important thing that needs to get out there is that even though it’s happened in record time, I do think it’s safe. And I can tell you I would much rather take this vaccine and have antibodies in my blood that are even somewhat protective than to have nothing.”

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