No date yet for more COVID vaccine

Last week Baptist Health Corbin received 975 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine that went to frontline healthcare workers, but it remains to be seen when the next doses of the vaccine will be headed to Whitley County.

Whitley County Public Health Director Marcy Rein said that she doesn’t have access to information yet about when the next shipment of vaccines will arrive in Whitley County, how many doses there will be, or which vaccine that the county will receive.

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was recently approved by the federal government for use.

Rein said that she is aware of the federal contract with CVS and Walgreens that began this week to administer the vaccine to long term care residents and staff.

“We anticipate getting a notice about the Moderna vaccine coming to the health department in the next week or so. We have been working with employers and partners and with our staff to ensure that as soon as we get doses, we are ready to get them into arms as soon as safely possible,” Rein said.

“As we get the initial phase of people vaccinated, we will communicate whom the next phase will include and how that will roll out. We don’t know a time line for that. We know people are anxious about when it will be their turn. We thank them for their patience. They can watch our website and Facebook page for more information and local media, with whom we will share information.”

Rein also took time this week to answer questions about two common rumors on social media regarding the vaccines.

One deals with whether the vaccines from stem cells from aborted babies.

“The two vaccines approved for use, Pfizer and Moderna, are both synthetic. No cell lines are involved,” Rein said in an e-mail.

The ingredients for Moderna are listed here: https://www.modernatx.com/covid19vaccine-eua/eua-fact-sheet-recipients.pdf.

“The Catholic Church issued a statement confirming that both Pfizer and Moderna are morally acceptable because they do not contain human cell lines,” Rein said.

Another rumor on social media claims that the vaccine is being used to place a microchip in people’s bodies.

“Okay, so assuming anyone cares that much about where I buy groceries or when I make a late-night run for ice cream, and they can’t already track that through my cell phone, it’s just not practical,” Rein said.

She noted that syringes used to place microchips in pets are larger than the ones used to vaccinate people.

“There is an incredible difference in needle size because microchips aren’t small. The Moderna vaccine is 0.5 mL of liquid. That’s 0.1 teaspoon or about 10 drops. I don’t think a chip will fit. Also, the vaccine goes into the deltoid muscle (in your upper arm). I don’t think technology would allow tracking through that dense tissue. Pet chips are put subcutaneously or under the skin. For those who believe some people want to watch their activities, I think there are plenty of existing ways to do that – through cell phones, store loyalty cards, vehicle GPS, internet browsers, social media, satellites, and email,” Rein added in an e-mail.