On Wednesday, February 24th, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) hosted an Uptown Insights panel in partnership with UC Health to share important updates about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. More than 30 people joined the virtual webinar for the hour-long presentation and discussion.
UC Health President and CEO Dr. Rick Lofgren and Dr. Jennifer Forrester, UC Health Associate Chief Medical Officer, presented followed by a Q&A session. UCI’s CEO Beth Robinson and City of Cincinnati Councilmember Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney joined the discussion to answer questions.
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As one of the advisers to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine during the pandemic response, Dr. Lofgren brings a unique perspective as the leader of Greater Cincinnati’s academic health system and as an internal medicine physician with a master’s degree in epidemiology.
Dr. Jennifer Forrester is a leading member of COVID-19 Response and the Vaccine Core Teams at UC Health. She is the University’s Women in Medicine and Science Co-President and Associate Chief Medical Officer, one of two females in this role.
Dr. Lofgren: vaccine development, rollout and resources
Dr. Lofgren began the presentation by explaining UC Health’s vision and mission: to advance healing and reduce suffering in the community. “And bringing the academic medicine difference,” Dr. Lofgren explained. “One of those things is bringing the highest level of medical care by providing unique service and life-altering therapies and specialty therapies to our community.”
Dr. Lofgren provided an example: ECMO therapy, which is a bypass machine to help the heart and lungs when they fail, which has made a lifesaving difference. He shared how UC Health is also the source of education and groundbreaking research, focusing the discussion on vaccine development, how it works and how it was developed so quickly.
“I know that's a concern that people have in terms of, ‘did they skip steps along the way?’ and ‘Is the science solid?’ And I'm here to tell you that they went through the rigor of the science,” Dr. Lofgren said.
He explained that since the vaccine must be delivered on a global scale, it will take time to administer it, emphasizing the preventative measures the general public should utilize for the foreseeable future to prevent the spread and/or contraction of COVID-19: social distancing and wearing a face mask.
“One of the things I think is very important to always remember is that we already know a lot about how we can stop the spread of this virus that's very effective that doesn't take a vaccine,” he said. “Social distancing, keeping distance, and the use of a face mask reduce the transmission by 85 percent.”
Dr. Lofgren explained the step-by-step process to which vaccines are normally produced, which typically can be a 10-to-15-year process. He then showed a flowchart of the accelerated vaccine development process, including the combined phases, pre-approval and rapid large-scale manufacturing, which cut the development process down significantly for this particular vaccine.
Now, with the vaccine distribution in full swing, Dr. Lofgren explained the different rollout phases and where the state of Ohio is, in terms of the rollout. “The state has done over 1.4 million doses of at least the first dose of the vaccine or about 12.6% of Ohioans have received their first dose,” he shared.
He also spent time talking about distribution and highlighting resources that are helping to reach the community, such as working with local agencies and resources, including United Health, United Way, the Council on Aging, New Prospect Baptist Church, Closing the Health Gap, and the Urban League as well as identifying clinics in high-need neighborhoods.
“Everybody's come together through The Health Collaborative and put up a website called testandprotectcincinnati.com. It has the latest information on all the sites that are doing testing as well as the vaccination sites when you click onto the various sites and providers,” Dr. Lofgren shared.
Dr. Forrester: Herd Immunity and vaccine FAQ’s
Dr. Lofgren turned the discussion over to Dr. Forrester to share the importance of herd immunity and why it is important to focus on achieving it as a society.
“First, certainly we want to save lives. And the less people infected the less chance of serious consequences in those people. Also, when the virus goes from person to person, it makes copies of itself. And because it's a virus, it makes a lot of mistakes and this is where variants arise. And sometimes those can be more infectious or more dangerous than the initial strain,” Dr. Forrester explained. “So the quicker we get people vaccinated, then we can stop the variants in their tracks. And the third point is that herd immunity is really our way out of this pandemic. It's the way back to normal life.”
Dr. Forrester covered when people can expect to get the vaccine, emphasizing that it will take time. “Right now, the state only gets about 100,000 vaccines each week from the federal government. And then those are divvied out where the population is in the state. Besides there being a significant amount of people in the US, and also in the state of Ohio, it's going to take some time to deliver the right amount of vaccine to where these people are. And each state really had to make and execute its own plan,” she explained.
Dr. Forrester shared that as soon as they get more vaccines, they are already prepared to start vaccinating people. “We're ready for it but right now there are more arms than needles.”
Until herd immunity status is reached, Dr. Forrester stressed that it is still really important to do all those things known to stop the spread of the virus. “Which is wearing masks, social distancing, hand-washing, staying away from others when you're sick. Because if the virus can't move from person to person, then it can't actually spread a variant or a mutation. And then our vaccines will continue to be effective, which is our goal.”
Dr. Forrester emphasized a point Dr. Lofgren made earlier in the presentation, that the COVID-19 vaccines were tested rigorously in trials. “They are safe and effective,” she said. “Honestly, this vaccine hit it out of the park. These two vaccines hit it out of the park.”
Panel Q&A
The session then shifted to the Q&A portion, starting with a question about the cost of the vaccine. “The vaccine was purchased by the government and distributed, and the vaccine itself is free,” Dr. Lofgren said. “The county health departments and other facilities have actually made sure that their sites don't charge anything, including an administration fee.”
Councilmember Kearney joined to share how the vaccine news can get to the community in light of misinformation, fear and mistrust. “Dr. Lofgren pointed out that we are dying from COVID at a higher rate than other populations. So the need to build trust is really immediate, it's urgent, and it's really hard,” she shared. “One of the things you're doing today that really helps a lot is separating fact from fiction. And that's just a major step because when people start talking about how they get information, they get it everywhere,” she said.
Kearney talked about the many misconceptions out there. “We really need physicians, especially Black physicians and healthcare workers to let us know that these vaccines are safe.” She thanked physicians committed to getting the news out, including frequent town hall meetings that the Center for Closing the Health Gap hosts on Saturdays at 4 p.m., which are critical to addressing the myths that are prevalent, especially with a younger population who, after hearing the myths, are often against getting vaccinated.
“After they hear the facts from trusted credible known sources, and I heard Dr. Lofgren say, it's so important to get information from trusted sources. But at the end of that they say, okay, I'm going to rethink this. I'm opening my mind to getting vaccinated after all, Kearney said.
“That is so important. And when you ask me, what am I really pushing for and looking at, it's really what you're doing here today, separating fact from fiction, getting the information out to the community so that people can make good decisions. And a good decision is one that saves your life, saves the life of a loved one,” she said.
Next Steps and Encouragement
The session wrapped up with a chance for each participant to share words of encouragement especially as COVID-fatigue is setting in and people are craving to get back to a pre-pandemic way of life.
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney
“Just think about running a race, like running a marathon. When you get to that last lap, you're exhausted, you're tired, you're sick of it, and you just want to sit down. But something inside of you says, ‘Just keep going. You're almost there.’ And when you hit that finish line, you know, everybody's cheering and that's where we're going to be. So I just encourage you to keep that mask on, keep social distancing. We are almost at the finish line. We can see it in front of us, but we cannot stop now. We can't stop now because that just pushes us back. We have to keep going and just keep pushing and keep encouraging each other because the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. We are almost there. So do not give up. Stay the course and encourage everybody around you to stay the course, get your vaccination.”
Dr. Rick Lofgren
“We're seeing some real impacts on nursing homes and elderly people are getting vaccinated. A couple of elements though, to really get our life back, we have to get the virus out of our community. And even if you've been vaccinated, you still need to wear your mask. We know it stops the spread, and the more that we do it, the more that we're going to be able to gradually get back to our normal life. And the other thing I would say is that I think when we saw the big uptick in cases in November and December, it was no longer the schools and the bars. It was really people getting tired and popping their bubble. And that statistically ultimately spreads the virus. We're almost there and have to hang in and get rid of this virus so it’s history.”
Dr. Jennifer Forrester
“I think one of the important things is knowing how hard it is on everyone. We all agree we're tired and we have our ups and downs with it. So just when you see someone in that spot, just be kind, continue to encourage each other. I think that's ever so important right now as we're tired and there are people lonely out there. So reach out to people as well.”
To watch the full panel and presentation conversations, along with previous virtual events, visit UCI’s channel on YouTube.
COVID-19 community resources
Dr. Lofgren, Dr. Forrester and Councilmember Kearney shared many important resources throughout the presentation:
UC Health Vaccine Information Toolkit
The Health Collaborative’s latest news, information and resources.
The Center for Clinical & Translational Science and Training (CCTST), established by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, exists to maximize the impact of clinical and translational research to improve individual and population health locally and nationally. It is the go-to place for support for clinical and translational research and training for the University of Cincinnati, UC Health, CCHMC and the greater Cincinnati community. Here’s a link to modules on COVID-19 on CCTST’s website.