NEW ORLEANS — Now that coronavirus vaccines will soon be distributed, we know many of you have questions about getting one.
Monday night you'll have the chance to ask Tulane doctors questions at a free, virtual community town hall.
Here’s a preview with two of the eight experts on four of your top vaccine questions.
On our Tulane panel, immunology expert Dr. Lisa Morici, and preventive cardiologist Dr. Keith Ferdinand. So question one, are the vaccines safe? They say don't rely on social media.
“These conspiracies, they look legitimate. They sound scientific, but they're not. They're fictitious,” said Dr. Lisa Morici, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine.
“The truth of the matter is the new vaccines are deemed as safe. Vaccines eliminated polio. Measles was a number one cause of death for children. Unfortunately, we have seen isolated cases of measles that have arisen because of the anti-vax movement,” said Tulane Preventive Cardiologist Dr. Keith Ferdinand.
“These vaccines that are showing 90 percent effectiveness are just truly, truly amazing and exceeding expectations,” Dr. Morici added.
And they explained there were no short cuts. The technology behind them has been in development and tested for a long time.
Question 2, can the vaccine make you sick? The answer no, but getting the wild or natural virus kills and can cause long term side effects.
“We're not getting injected with virus. We are not getting injected with something that could integrate into our DNA,” Dr. Morici added.
Question three, Who should get the vaccine? Just about everyone.
“Most of the experts are recommending that everyone get the vaccine whether or not they've had a mild or severe case of COVID-19,” said Dr. Morici.
“I think it would be a travesty if we turn our back on this opportunity to curtail this COVID-19 pandemic. We can't live like this. We have to wear our mask, socially distance, avoid indoor crowding, don't have the big family meals,” said Dr. Ferdinand.
“We're all in this together and it's going to take the community achieving high vaccination rates to help eliminate the virus from spreading to other individuals,” Dr. Morici explained.
And question 4, after you get the vaccine and are protected, can you spread the virus to unprotected people. The answer, we don't know, which is yet another reason everyone should get the shot.
“I just this morning had a patient who had her family come in for Thanksgiving and now all of them have COVID-19, so the vaccines are going to be needed,” said Dr. Ferdinand.
“People have asked me, you know, which vaccine should I take, and my answer is whichever one is available to you,” Dr. Morici said.
The Tulane community town hall is Monday night at 5:30. It's a free, virtual event with eight doctors and vaccine experts. Links to the Livestream are available below:
