Eisenhower Health’s Chief Medical Officer answers community’s questions on vaccine rollout
The Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce held a Zoom workshop Wednesday morning to answer community questions about the vaccine rollout.
The workshop featured Dr. Alan Williamson, Chief Medical Officer at Eisenhower Health. Anyone in the community was able to take part and ask Williamson their questions directly.
What's the hospital's biggest concern right now?
When asked what their greatest concern is right now, Williamson said it’s a new coronavirus variant. "If we continue to see an outbreak involving that variant, we might see yet another surge coming into March and April," he said.
He says the community’s best bet against a new variant is to continue the course — vaccinating as many people as possible. He says the vaccines available will still lower your chance of being severely affected.
How long until things get back to "normal?"
When asked when things might return to ‘normal’ here in the valley, Williamson said that all depends on the vaccine supply available. “Over the past 2 weeks we’ve seen a problem getting vaccines into our hands."
At the beginning of the rollout, he says about 2,000 people a day were being vaccinated. If we could have continued at that pace, he estimates the whole valley could have been vaccinated in just a few months. “By the very early part of summer I think we would have had virtually everyone in the valley vaccinated,” he said.
But now, we’re receiving about 1,000 doses per week. And at this slowed rate, he says it could take about a year to vaccinate everyone.
What if you have trouble making an appointment for your second dose exactly three weeks after your first?
Because of the limited supply, some also raised questions about getting their second dose. What if you can’t get an appointment exactly 21 days after your initial injection? According to Williamson: “There have been good studies emerging to show that if we miss that mark of 21 or 28 days...it’s okay. We can still extend at least as far out as six weeks and quite possibly further than that and get that second dose later than the original plan.”
If you're vaccinated, can you still transmit the virus to others?
Yes. Williamson also stressed that those who have been vaccinated, should keep in mind you can still be a carrier of the virus and transmit it to others.
