The COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout Explained
The COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout Explained
A One-on-One Interview with Dr. Kevin Watkins, Cattaraugus County Director of Health.
photo/cdc.gov
Across our nation, a vaccine has been deployed to battle the COVID-19 virus. This comes with so many questions nationwide, including right here in Cattaraugus County.
How long will it take for me to get vaccinated? What if I don’t have Internet access? What if I’m elderly and need help in this process?
We decided to go right to the top, to get answers to some of these questions. Dr. Kevin Watkins, the Cattaraugus County Director of Health, took time out of his busy schedule to field our questions.
eNOW: How is the vaccine roll-out working in Cattaraugus County?
Dr. Watkins: We have a limited number of vaccine and therefore we are only able to vaccinate a limited number of our residents. We’re asking our residents to be patient as more vaccine is coming; we are hoping to move down our waiting list of residents that want to be vaccinated.
eNOW: As for seniors who don’t have Internet access or aren’t comfortable with computers, what is their recourse?
Dr. Watkins: Cattaraugus County has opened a COVID-19 call Center. That number is 716-701-3777. You can call our staff and they will walk you through getting an eligibility document in order to come to the vaccine clinic. They will put you on a wait list to get the vaccine, so if you do not have computer access, our staff will do all of that for you. You just have to answer a couple of questions, they will print out that eligibility form, and they will mail it to you or you can stop by our office and pick up this form.
eNOW: What are some of the worries you would like to dispel that you’re hearing from residents?
Dr. Watkins: I’m more than sure that people are concerned about the warp speed in which the vaccine was developed. We want to tamp down some of the misinformation about this. This vaccine has shown to have a 95% efficacy. This vaccine has been shown to reduce the severity of the symptoms of COVID-19. The vaccine has been shown to reduce the actual ability to contract the virus itself. So if anyone has a concern about the vaccination, we would like to put that to rest and we’d like everyone to consider getting vaccinated.
eNOW: How concerned should women who are expecting be when it comes to the vaccination?
Dr. Watkins: As far as women who are pregnant or lactating, recent reports show that there are no adverse effects. I would recommend that if they’re concerned and are pregnant or are considering getting pregnant, to reach out to their OB/GYN and discuss before getting vaccinated. But again, studies of pregnant women have shown no adverse effects.
eNOW: When will Cattaraugus County receive more vaccine?
Dr. Watkins: We are getting weekly shipments but our supply is far less than our demand. We do know that we’re supposed to see a 20% increase from our baseline shipment. Starting immediately the normal allotment to hospitals will now be allocated to the local health departments as well, this way we can start to vaccinate individuals with comorbidities. We are hopeful that now by expanding the vaccine to local health departments, the vaccines delivered will mirror the demand we have from our residents.
eNOW: Where are you in the vaccination process right now, which group?
Dr. Watkins: We are still vaccinating the 1B group, first responders, healthcare workers, police officers teachers and essential workers. We, however, are in a community with very few pharmacies, so we’ve been asked to help vaccinate seniors 65 and older. You can find more about where we are in the vaccination process on our website (www.cattco.org).