COVID-19 vaccinations will begin in Alberta later this week but don’t expect life to go back to normal.
Here are some commonly asked questions about what will happen once it begins:
Can you get infected with COVID-19 after getting the vaccine?
In short, we don’t yet know. Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, who is the Canada research chair in emerging viruses, says the Pfizer vaccine showed 95 per cent efficacy — meaning 95 per cent of vaccinated patients showed no symptoms of disease.
“The issue we don’t know yet is whether or not this actually protects us from becoming infected in the first place. Yes, our immune system can pick up once we are infected but does it actually block that initial interaction between virus and ourselves? We don’t know,” he said.
Does that mean you could still transmit the disease after getting vaccinated?
It’s possible. Kindrachuk said, again, right now is there isn’t the data to show whether or not people lose the ability to be infected in the first place.
“You could have somebody that’s vaccinated… they don’t get symptoms of the disease, but the virus has actually still been able to get into some of their cells and start creating more copies of themselves,” he said.
“They don’t have any symptoms but they may in fact still be able to transmit to the people around them.”
Kindrachuk said if there is herd community then everyone will be protected; meanwhile, Canadians will still need to be careful.
So can life go back to normal for those who are vaccinated?
The simple answer is no, at least not until we reach herd immunity.
That means you will still need to wear a mask, distance and continue with good hand hygiene.
Will we have to get vaccinated every year, similar to what we do for influenza?
The coronavirus does not mutate as quickly as influenza, which is why a new vaccine is needed every year for influenza.
However, more data is needed before saying for certain how often one needs to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Should those who have recovered from COVID-19 still get vaccinated?
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said we are still learning about what kind of immunity people might have if they’ve been infected and how long that might last.
“At the moment, there’s no evidence receiving a vaccine after someone’s been infected is harmful in any way,” she said.
“There’s no evidence that is a risk to individuals… In fact, it may be beneficial in terms of boosting or adding to any immunity an individual has acquired through infection.”
Who is responsible for tracking adverse events?
Dr. Shannon MacDonald, a professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta, said anyone who experiences an adverse event should report it to their provider, which in Alberta is Alberta Health Services.
That information then gets reported to Alberta Health and then passed onto the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The province will also be closely monitoring other data.
“In Alberta, they’re looking at what we call administrative health data, which is physicians visits, emergency department visits. So, looking for events and there’s also plans for multiple provinces to share that data and compile that data so you can get the power of large numbers,” MacDonald said.
How might that information about adverse events be used?
MacDonald said that, if there are many instances of adverse events, existing vials would be pulled from that lot and then investigated.
“Let’s say we notice there’s a lot of really high fevers with people after the vaccine, more so than what we would have expected. What they would do is they look at the data in the system and it will tell them which vaccine it was, whether it was for instance the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine,” she said.
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