The emergence of highly infectious variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil has increased the need to be cautious about vaccination protocol as high infection rates encourage the continued mutation of the coronavirus, said Monto, professor of epidemiology and global public health with the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
“If we don’t get virus replication, we don’t get mutations,” said Monto. “So we have to defeat the virus and virus transmission as our main goal.”
Admittedly, the lack of vaccines is the biggest problem with the launch in the US, said Monto.
“We would have no problem prioritizing if we had all of the vaccines we need for everyone,” said Monto. “Most of our problem now has been about who should get the vaccine, whether people are jumping in line, and none of that would be an issue if we had enough vaccine.”
Because of this, the United States needs to get around convincing vaccine reluctant people to take the shot and instead getting two doses of the vaccine into the people who really want it, Monto said.
“We have a majority of high-risk people who are dying to get the vaccine,” said Monto. “Given the vaccine shortage, we really don’t have a vaccine on the shelves waiting to be administered. Let’s vaccinate [those people]and then try to convince those who, for one reason or another, have not been vaccinated that this vaccine is safe and effective. “
By the time millions of avid people are vaccinated, tons of data will be available to provide an unassailable record of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, Monto said.
“At the time the vaccine was approved, there was concern that we only had data two or three months after the vaccines were launched,” said Monto. “Now it goes on and on and we have millions of people who have received the vaccine.”
More information
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccination at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOURCES: Dr. Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology and global public health in the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor; Ran Balicer, MD, MPH, Director, Clalit Research Institute, Clalit Health Services, Israel; University of East Anglia, press release, February 3, 2021; Anthony Fauci, MD, Director of the United States National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, press conference, February 3, 2021
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