ICYMI: Quad County, Carson City area COVID-19 vaccinations begin Monday

Carson City Health and Human Services announced last week that vaccinations would be moving into Tier 2 beginning on Monday, Jan. 11 starting with educators and daycare providers.

According to Jeanne Freeman, Public Health Preparedness Manager for Carson City, the quad-county region will be moving into Tier 2 vaccinations as a whole, and that counties will remain linked as they go through vaccinations.

What that means is no county within the region, which includes Carson City, Douglas County, Storey County and Lyon County, will progress faster or slower than any other.

To learn which tier the Carson City Quad-County is currently vaccinating on a weekly basis please visit http://www.gethealthycarsoncity.org

Educators, daycare workers and other staff in higher education authorized for Tier 2 vaccinations will be alerted how to register for their vaccines through their employers. In order to receive vaccinations on the day of, authorized Tier 2 vaccine recipients will be required to show proof of their affiliation with their employer in the form of an employer-issued badge.

Freeman warned that residents should be aware of any potential scams associated with vaccines, such as those scams reported regarding COVID-19 testing.

“We’ve seen such scams when it comes to testing and we know there is going to be those types of scams when it comes to vaccinations,” said Freeman. “You will not be asked to pay for a vaccination for COVID-19. It is a no-cost vaccine to everyone regardless of insurance. It is free and available when you are eligible within the tiers.”

For any questions regarding vaccinations, including potential fraud or scams, please contact the COVID-19 hotline at (775) 434-1988 .

Carson City’s Health Officer Dr. Susan Pintar also took time to explain how the vaccination works and what potential side effects could look like.

The virus itself is a clump of genetic material, RNA surrounded by a protein shell, surrounded by an envelope of fat.

“It cannot live by itself,” said Dr. Pintar. “If you put it on a cloth by itself it’d be gone in about 30 minutes. But what it can do is get inside our cells and reproduce. That’s what its job is, is to make more copies of itself. The job of a vaccine is to keep that virus from getting inside the cells.”

According to Pintar, the vaccine is a copy of a part of the virus that triggers the immune system to respond by creating antibodies that the body uses to destroy the virus. Its second job is to remember the virus later on in case it tries to come back into the body, which will allow the antibodies to respond again to fight it off.

There are three types of vaccines that science has created up until this point, all of which are being developed for COVID-19 use.

The first is protein-based, which Dr. Pintar referred to as “the old faithful” which has been around for decades. The influenza vaccine is an example of a protein-based vaccine. A piece of the virus is grown in a lab within an egg and then made into an injectable form.

The second type of vaccine is connected to the first, called a “viral vector,” which is when a good virus is attached to the piece of protein and injected it into the body.

The third type of vaccine is the MRNA, or messenger RNA, which in the case of COVID-19 has been authorized for emergency use in America. The two vaccines circulating currently are made by Pfizer and Moderna. This third type of vaccine is the fastest to develop which is why it is currently available for distribution.

The MRNA vaccine makes a copy of a little piece of the RNA in the virus, covers it with a little bit of fat, then is injected into the body.

This type of vaccine is faster to make which is why it was approved first, said Dr. Pintar.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to all types of vaccines,” said Dr. Pintar. “Advantages for MRNA is that we can make more of it faster. There’s no risk of getting infected with the virus, because it doesn’t use a piece of real virus at all, it’s using a copy of the piece of a virus.”

Beneficial effects are still being studied but seem to be quite positive. The level of antibodies remains really high for a number of months, and made even a year or more, according to Dr. Pintar.

However, the MRNA vaccines are not perfect. They need to be kept extremely cold at all times and are unstable, meaning they cannot be vigorously shaken or else they will fall apart. Additionally the MRNA vaccine was not tested in minors, meaning that it is only allowed to be used for those 18 and above in the case of Pfizer, or 16 an above in the case of Moderna.

Dr. Pintar stated that side effects for the COVID-19 vaccine are similar to those for other vaccines.

“Any vaccine can have side effects,” said Dr. Pintar. “Those who have had the flu vaccine or a shingles shot know that you typically can get a sore arm or sore muscles for one to three days. That’s very common with the MRNA vaccine. An occasional person — and statistics vary but it may be around 10 percent — will get a fever for a couple of days, and some will experience aches for a day or two. The good news is if you do have those side effects it tells us that your body is responding to the vaccine appropriately. Your immune system is getting activated and its trying to fight off the infection.”

Side effects for the other not yet distributed COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be similar.

Dr. Pintar also explained what to expect for those who get their vaccinations.

Those in Nevada will be registered with the statewide database called “Web-IZ” which collects information such as date of birth, demographics, what type of vaccine was given and when. This is so the patient or a healthcare provider can look the information up easily at a later date.

Vaccine recipients will then receive a vaccination card with their name and the dosage of the vaccine, as required by the federal government. The nurse will then provide the recipient with their shot. Recipients will then be asked to wait 15 minutes before leaving in the case of a rare, immediate reaction to the vaccine.

According to Carson City Health and Human Service’s Nikki Aaker, recipients will be enrolled in a Vaccination Safety Program known as V Safe after they receive their vaccination, which is used by the CDC to collect data relating to reactions to the vaccine.

Vaccines are being received by the Quad-County region on a weekly basis. This week alone, Carson City Health and Human Services plans to vaccinate 1,900 individuals within the Quad-County region. 1,200 vaccines were provided at Carson Tahoe Hospital. As vaccinations progress, it is expected that private healthcare providers will also be able to provide the vaccine to patients and customers, dependent on their ability to collect the data needed by the federal government.

For more information regarding vaccinations within the Quad-County region and on COVID-19, please visit gethealthycarsoncity.org