VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The following is a news release by the City County Health District Office as of Wednesday, December 16th.
“On December 11th the FDA granted emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adults. The Moderna vaccine is expected to receive approval later this week, and Johnson and Johnson is anticipating approval of their vaccine in the new year.
These vaccines are 95% effective after having taken both the first and second shot, and the FDA identified them as 50% effective after the first shot.
These vaccines all use what is called messenger RNA (mRNA), a new technique that has been widely studied in cancer research. Vaccines for Hepatitis A, the flu and polio all use bits of the real virus that’s been inactivated. Vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox use the real virus that has ‘attenuated’ or changed. Both methods trigger the immune system to fight the disease.
How does mRNA work that is different from these other vaccines? The mRNA makes the difference; it is like a pattern.
We’ve all seen the picture of a coronavirus with its many spikes. Once the mRNA is inside the body it then directs your body to make a copy of one of the spikey portions of the virus. The immune system in our body then recognizes these new independent spikes as dangerous and creates antibodies (which are like a protective army) that are ready to fight COVID-19 if the person comes in contact with the coronavirus.
This type of vaccine is very fragile and must be carefully cared for which is why it must be stored at very low temperatures.
The City County Health District is identified as the Emergency Operations Center (or Command Center) for our county for the pandemic. Theresa Will, the CCHD director, has been working with all the health care entities in Valley City this past week helping to coordinate the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine which will arrive Monday, December 21, as well as the Moderna vaccine anticipated to be approved and arriving in a week or so.
For more information on COVID-19 go to www.health.nd.gov and click on coronavirus (more information) or call their hotline at 1-866-207-2880 or contact City County Health District about any concerns or needs that you may have (845-8518). If you or your family would need a cloth mask, they can be obtained at City County Health District.”