Here are some updates on the vaccination. I have applied to be able to give it out, but am still waiting for official approval from the Ohio Department of Health. They are in charge of distribution in Ohio.

Watch your phone or email for updates, as we might get some soon, or it might be a few weeks yet!!

Feel free to get it anywhere you can in the meantime if you are in the group that is next to receive it. We need to get to 70% vaccination rate before the masks will go away!!!

Here are some other things you should know about it:
  • Pfizer has to be dosed a second time in 21 days, Moderna is 28 days. You can’t interchange products, has to be kept the same.
  • No other vaccines to be given within a 14 day period before or after the covid 19 is given.
  • You will get a vaccination card with info on it after your first shot, and bring it to your second visit for the booster. Take a photo of your card after you get it in case you lose it!
  • Your dose will also be logged online in Ohio’s immunization registry. However, you need to come back to the same place for now to get the second shot due to the way they are allocating the shots.

Some anaphylactic reactions have been reported, but many who get anaphylactic reactions have not had one with these vaccines either. If you have history of anaphylactic reactions, be sure to tell us well ahead of time, so we can prepare. If you are getting the vaccine elsewhere, take your epi pen with you. As of the first week of January there have been 5 cases of anaphylaxis out of 1 million covid vaccinations. The influenza vaccine causes about 2 cases per 1 million for reference.

Because no one has had this vaccine before, we can’t safely do car vaccinations like we did with the flu in my opinion. We will schedule patients for their shot and you will be asked to wait 15 minutes after your shot for any possible reactions. You do need to read and sign some paperwork so total visit time is probably 25 minutes or so. We will schedule you for your second dose when you schedule your first one. We will text you a reminder before your next appointment.

We don’t want to waste any vaccine, so it would help us if you have a friend or two who might want one at the last minute if we end up with extra, think about who that might be and ask them. If they are not a patient here, it will cost $10 for administration fee.

If you want to see if you made antibodies to the vaccine, I still have some fingerstick antibody tests available for $35 each; wait for 3-4 week after the second dose to test and see if you made antibodies. You DO NOT have to do this—but it might be useful if you are in high risk group and want to make sure you are immunized. We still don’t know for sure how long immunity will last or if another booster might be needed yearly or what.

Stay tuned!