How Black Residents in Birmingham Overcame Fear to Take COVID-19 vaccines birminghamtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from birminghamtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Drug maker, Pfizer, says its COVID-19 vaccine is effective for at least six months
Pfizer offers at least 6 month protection By Chasity Maxie | April 1, 2021 at 7:47 PM CDT - Updated April 1 at 9:34 PM
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Drug maker, Pfizer, announced its COVID-19 vaccine offers protection against the virus for at least six months.
It’s the first look at how long protection from a coronavirus vaccine lasts.
Pfizer is still following patients from its clinical trials noting how long immunity lasts with its vaccine.
Local doctors anticipate that protection could last much longer.
Prizer’s ongoing clinical trials reveal their COVID-19 vaccine remains more than 91% effective against the virus.
By Erica Wright
The Birmingham Times
When some of her family members contracted coronavirus last year, Mary Wilkerson knew she would want a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it became available.
“My daughter-in-law came down with it right before Thanksgiving; she didn’t have to go in the hospital and was able to recover. My brother-in-law did not [have to be hospitalized, either]. They had to fight through it, though,” she said.
Wilkerson, 66, who lives in North Smithfield Manor in West Birmingham recently received her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Alabama Regional Medical Services (ARMS) clinic in North Birmingham. Like many African-Americans, Wilkerson said she was skeptical ahead of taking the doses.
The Birmingham Times
Dr. David Hicks, DO, Deputy Health Officer, Jefferson County Department of Health says there are several public health tools (e.g. social distancing, good hand hygiene, cough etiquette, wearing facial covering/masks, isolation/quarantine, contact tracing) recommended and proven to help decrease the spread of COVID-19. Here he talks to the Birmingham Times about the importance of vaccinations to finally help end this pandemic. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.
What is the most important thing for people to know about vaccines?
Dr. Hicks: “All of the current available COVID vaccines are safe and effective. For the safety part, these vaccines have been through rigorous scientific and medical evaluation and there has been more scrutiny on the safety data from these vaccines than potentially any other medicine or vaccine that has ever been developed and that’s from the federal government, research and medical community and the public health comm
The Birmingham Times
Thousands of eligible Jefferson County residents began receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, March 29, as a new vaccination site opened at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM).
The vaccination site is a collaborative effort by the Jefferson County Department of Health, Doctor Celeste MD, Bruno Event Team, the City of Birmingham, Birmingham Airport Authority and Kaiser Aircraft Industries. The vaccination site will allow for administering up to 4,500 COVID-19 vaccinations each week over the next 60 days to eligible Jefferson County residents under the guidelines set by the Alabama Department of Public Health.
“This site is an ideal location to serve all of Jefferson County,” said Dr. Mark Wilson, Jefferson County Health Officer. “This collaborative effort will help move us more quickly toward the herd immunity needed to end this pandemic.”