By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
When and if boosters for COVID-19 vaccine will be needed is an open question.
While the earliest would in fall, that all depends on how much a shot in the arm people get from their initial doses, Health Commissioner Ben Robison told the Health Board Thursday.
That time line could get pushed further off as the vaccines prove their efficacy.
Robison said, however he’s been getting a lot of questions stemming from the information patients have on their vaccine cards.
Some cards include labeling information from the vaccine. One piece of information is an “expiration date.”
Some people, Robison said, believe that is when they need a booster. But that’s when the vaccine is safe to be administered if properly stored. Once it’s in the arm, it’s fine.
Discussions continue about the boosters. The question remains if one will be needed and if so whether it should be the same one as a patient originally got or a different one.
“There’s no clear guidance what that booster could be,” Robison said.
During the meeting, he did get a bit of good news. He said that the Health Department has 3,200 doses of the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
It’s been offered to other health departments, but there were no takers. The vaccine was set to expire on June 23. However, staff reported the breaking news that a study has found that if it continues to be stored in a freezer, the J&J vaccine can last four and half months, six weeks longer.
The county’s success in vaccinating people, as well as people’s adherence to safety protocols is behind the steady decline in the number of reported cases. June 2 was a landmark date – the first day since the pandemic arrived in the county that not a single new case was reported.
Robison said nearly two-thirds of residents 30 and over have been vaccinated. And about 500 teenagers have been vaccinated. Robison expects the vaccine to be approved for younger and younger children later in the year.
Early in the meeting the board approved new rules on masking at the Health Department.
Members of the public who are fully vaccinated are not required to wear masks in Health Department.
However, the health center and vaccine clinic will continue to follow the health guidance for health facilities. Those require masking for workers and the public.
Fully vaccinated staff will be able to remove their masks in non-public areas, but all employees working with the public will still be required to wear masks. The staff who wish to be maskless in non-public areas will have to report their status to Robison or the human resources department.
That troubled Board Member Rachel Bowlis. She noted that President Biden just announced that federal employees will not be required to declare their vaccination status.
She also questioned the variance between what the health department was requiring and what was called for in other county offices.
Bowlis cast the sole dissenting vote on the new policy.
