As COVID-19 vaccines begin global distribution, most college students are not likely to receive one until the end of spring semester. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
This holiday season, people can hold out hope for a much-needed gift: a COVID-19 vaccine.
Preparations for mass distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine are in effect worldwide as cases are reaching staggering levels, but many college students are likely to not receive their dose till the end of spring semester, experts say. As of Wednesday, more than 1.41 million new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the U.S. over the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“People are still traveling for Thanksgiving and for the holidays, and families are still intermingling and that’s how the virus spreads,” Dr. Nicholas Kman, professor of emergency medicine and emergency physician at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State, said. “But, if we can get enough people vaccinated, that spread will stop.”
The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on whether to grant emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Thursday and the Moderna Inc. vaccine Dec. 17, according to the FDA’s website. The vaccines are slated for distribution before the new year.
In Ohio, the first phase of vaccine distribution is anticipated to begin around Tuesday, according to a press release from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Dec. 4. Kman said the goal is for health care workers to be vaccinated by early January and the most vulnerable groups will receive the vaccine shortly after.
Kman said multiple entities have outlined which groups are in critical need of receiving the vaccine first and recommended it be initially offered to those in settings where the risk of contracting COVID-19 is highest.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices determined if vaccine supplies are limited, vaccination in the initial phase should be offered to health care workers and adults living in long-term care facilities, according to the CDC’s website.
In Ohio, DeWine announced Dec. 4 a vaccine will first be offered to health care personnel, EMS responders and residents and staff in congregate settings, including nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals and veterans homes.
Kman said vulnerable adults with preexisting health conditions will likely follow, then those working in critical infrastructure, such as grocery store workers and law enforcement.
College students are also a priority for receiving the vaccine, according to Kman, as the lack of physical distance in dorm settings causes increased virus transmission.
Dr. Carlos Malvestutto, an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Wexner Medical Center, said even those who have previously had COVID-19 will be able to receive the vaccination like everyone else, as it is unknown whether the individual would still be immune or not.
Kman said while he estimates college students will receive the vaccine around late spring or early summer, with the general public to follow, the overall timeline for distribution is tentative as more vaccines are being designed and produced.
“Keep in mind that there’s two vaccines that are coming out this month, but there are other vaccines being studied that will probably be released later on,” Kman said. “And so, the supply will rise and that timeline might actually speed up.”
Malvestutto said it’s important for the vaccine to be taken by the entire population and not just limited groups, because the benefits of herd immunity will otherwise be reduced. Herd immunity is when enough of a population has immunity to protect those with weaker immune responses or those for whom vaccines are ineffective from being exposed to the virus.
However, Malvestutto said there are reasonable fears about a vaccine’s ability to work for disproportionately affected minority populations, including Black and Latino Americans.
A recent survey-based study conducted by the COVID Collaborative found that a mere 14 percent of Black adults trusted a vaccine to be safe and 18 percent trusted a vaccine’s effectiveness. The study also found that only 34 percent of Latinx people trusted a vaccine will be safe and 40 percent trusted its effectiveness.
“There has been a lot of abuse and mistreatment from the health care system overall towards underrepresented minorities,” Malvestutto said. “So there’s reason for that distress, there is a history for abuses that have led to this. So we need to address those concerns head on.”
Malvestutto said addressing those concerns starts with public health experts being transparent with the public about vaccines. He said this will also be an ongoing process of educating the public through expert discussion on a topic that has been largely politicized throughout the pandemic.
“We really need to move away from that and towards one clear voice that cuts through all the myths and all the misinformation and makes it very clear these are tools that have been developed, that have been demonstrated to be effective and safe,” Malvestutto said.
Kman said while clinical trials for the vaccines have gone much quicker — out of necessity for expeditious COVID-19 immunization — research and testing for a vaccine followed the same procedures and safety measures as any vaccine would normally, just at a much quicker pace.
Malvestutto said clinical trials testing the vaccines also actively sought to enroll both underrepresented minorities and vulnerable populations in the studies to make sure the trial results were representative of the populations most affected by COVID-19. Making the actual data from these clinical trials available for the public will help dispel the surrounding hoaxes, he said.
Malvestutto said there are still questions to be studied, even after vaccines have been distributed to the public, including how long the immunity from the vaccine persists, what level of protection it brings and if people will need to be revaccinated each year, similar to the flu shot.
Kman said the vaccines are supposed to be free or covered by insurance initially, but it’s uncertain if that will continue to be the case in the future.
Kman said people should have patience while waiting for a significant portion of the population to be vaccinated and continue to strongly follow safety protocols to limit the spread of the virus, such as social distancing and wearing a mask.
“I think the best advice that we can give is just to stay the course,” Kman said. “All of us have COVID fatigue. But if you’re planning on traveling home to see your family, you should wear a mask, you should probably isolate for 10 days and if you can get tested — I know Ohio State has a surveillance program where you can get tested over at Jesse Owens North — I would continue to do that.”
