Black calls for united front on vaccine effort

Lincoln County’s top doctor called on health board members to publicly back COVID-19 vaccination efforts last week.

“There are people that are hesitant. We are understanding of that, but we are working hard to help them understand,” said Dr. Brad Black, the county’s health officer. “I would like to ask all of our health board members to be ambassadors of vaccination efforts.”

Black made the call for support during the board’s Jan. 13 meeting. He had, throughout the autumn, described the prospect of vaccines as the light at the end of the tunnel while urging residents to hold to pandemic prevention methods.

Two vaccines, one manufactured by Pfizer and the other by Moderna, have received FDA approval. Three more, produced by AstraZeneca, Janssen and Novavax, are in phase three clinical trials, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Public Radio International’s “The World” earlier this month that vaccinations will bring the COVID-19 pandemic to an end. The key is getting between 70 and 85 percent of Americans vaccinated, he said, noting that his figures were a rough estimate.

“… I believe we would have what's called an umbrella or a blanket of herd immunity over the country. And if the rest of the world does that, we could crush this outbreak. Absolutely,” he told the show. “Vaccine is the answer.”

But many Americans are less sure about getting vaccinated. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in December found that 40 percent of Americans likely planned to forgo a vaccine when offered.

In Lincoln County, health department officials report getting overwhelmed by phone calls inquiring about the vaccines. Public Health Manager Jennifer McCully said earlier this month that residents, particularly those 70 or older, should leave messages on the department’s voice mail system if their call does not get picked up.

Opposition to the vaccines simultaneously has grown more vocal. In October, a group of residents came before county commissioners with a petition expected to denounce local pandemic measures. Instead, leaders immediately warned that a coming vaccine would alter Americans’ DNA.

Pandemic measures, like mask wearing, were just a distraction, said Trego resident Catherine Kahle.

“[The COVID-19 vaccine] will modify our DNA and genome, create a way to scan us to ensure we’ve definitely been vaccinated with this vaccination, and meld us with artificial intelligence,” she told the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 21.

Though members of the group bristle at being described “anti-vaxxers” — they are only against forced vaccinations, Kahle claimed last month — they have increasingly pushed medical and pandemic misinformation on local social media sites.

Kahle has returned before commissioners several times, citing debunked and outlandish claims about how the COVID-19 vaccines will harm those who receive them.

Black called for a public and united effort to promote the vaccine locally against that backdrop.

“I think it’s so important we have a very cohesive and consistent message … to get out of this COVID nightmare,” Black said.

For those waiting to see how the vaccine affects those who have received it, Black pointed to the thousands of people who participated in the trials. The data that came out of those studies showcased the safety of the vaccines as well as their effectiveness, he said.

“We’re not going to have a better study of a vaccine than right there,” he said.

But Debra Armstrong, Eureka’s representative to the health board, questioned Black’s confidence in the vaccines. They were fast-tracked to approval, she said, meaning they ought to be treated with caution.

“I think that we need to use a bit of caution,” she said. “This vaccine has been approved after two months of human trials with it. Most vaccines take between 10 and 20 years to develop.”

According to the scientific journal Nature, the COVID-19 vaccines benefitted from years of research into related coronaviruses — which can lead to severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome — and money. Lots of money.

Testing often slows the vaccine development process. President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed poured billions into the effort. That financial influx allowed companies to complete required trials at once rather than sequentially, Nature reported.

In December, Dr. Andrew Badley, an infectious diseases physician and head of the Mayo Clinic’s COVID-19 task force, said the fast track status still required the trial phases and data collection.

“The fast track parts were regulatory approvals, funding, data analysis and submission to the FDA,” he said. “Those are all paperwork items. What was not fast-tracked was enrollment of patients, clinical follow-up of these patients, capturing the events which occurred and the follow-up. These trials were executed very well. But the regulatory steps were fast-tracked.”

Back in Lincoln County, Black advised Armstrong and others with concerns about the vaccines to examine the vaccine trial studies.

But Armstrong said too much was unknown and urged her colleagues to remain cautious in supporting vaccination among any segments of society beyond those most vulnerable to COVID-19.

“My main problem and main concern is that there’s only been two months worth of trials and some effects of the vaccine will take longer to come up,” she said. “And there are going to be some serious side effects because that happens with any medication.”

Black maintained that there was no better tool available to stop the coronavirus than vaccination.

“For us … in about six to seven months to be able to look into each other’s faces without masks would be one of the most delightful things I can imagine,” Black said. “We won’t get there until we get to 70 to 80 percent vaccinated.”