COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

Along with leading healthcare systems throughout the state and nation, Wellstar Health System is requiring all team members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to help protect the health and safety of our patients, clinical team and community.

Getting the COVID vaccine is the best way to protect yourself, children and the community from the spread of COVID-19 and new variants.

We understand you may still want information, so here are some Frequently Asked Questions about the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines.

• Which vaccines are approved by the FDA?

The Pfizer vaccine is the first to be approved by the FDA for people age 16 and older. The Pfizer vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA) for children 12 to 15 years old.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available under EUA for people age 18 and older.

• Is it OK be vaccinated against COVID-19 if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or may become pregnant?

The CDC strongly recommends that women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or may become pregnant receive the COVID-19 vaccine, due to its proven safety and effectiveness. Please consult with your Wellstar OB/GYN provider prior to taking the vaccine. More information is available from the CDC here.

• What about bad reactions to the vaccine?

You will be observed for approximately 15 minutes after your vaccination to ensure you have no immediate adverse reactions, which have been very rare. Familiarize yourself with mild and more severe reactions to the vaccine prior to your vaccination. Mild symptoms include soreness around the injection site, headache, body aches and a mild fever. These side effects mean the vaccine is working to create antibodies to help you fight infection.

• Are there long-term effects of the COVID vaccine?

Serious side effects that could cause a long-term health problem are extremely unlikely following any vaccination, including for COVID-19. Historically, vaccine monitoring has shown that side effects generally happen within six weeks of receiving a vaccine dose. For this reason, the FDA required each of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines to be studied for at least two months (eight weeks) after the final dose. Millions of people have received COVID-19 vaccines, and no long-term side effects have been detected.

• How many doses of the vaccine are necessary, and at what times?

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses. After the initial dose, a second dose is needed at either about 21 days (Pfizer) or 28 days (Moderna). However, if it is not feasible to adhere to the recommended interval, the second dose of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may be scheduled for administration up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose.

• How long will the vaccine protect me?

At this time, scientists are gathering data to determine how long protection lasts. A third booster shot is recommended for certain age groups.

• Which groups are eligible for a booster shot?

The FDA has recently amended its EUA to help enhance the immune response for certain immunocompromised patients with an additional dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine six months after your second dose.

In addition, the FDA has also updated its EUA to include a booster shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people in higher-risk categories including those:

• 65 years of age and older
• 18 through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19
• 18 through 64 years of age whose frequent institutional or occupational
exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19

If you are in one of the above groups or you are immunocompromised, bring your vaccination card and any relevant medical information to a local pharmacy or vaccination site to request the appropriate COVID-19 vaccine.

At this time, your Wellstar physician is not able to provide COVID-19 vaccinations at their office. To find a COVID-19 vaccination site, visit vaccines.gov.

• Will I need a COVID-19 vaccine every year like influenza?

Duration of protection and new strains of COVID-19 are two important factors that will determine if booster or repeat vaccination is necessary. Investigations are ongoing.

• Do I need both the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine?

Yes. DPH and the CDC urge everyone to get the flu vaccine as soon as possible and the COVID-19 vaccine.

• Do I have to sign any forms to get a vaccine?

Yes. You need to sign a consent form prior to receiving the vaccine.

• I have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine. Who can I call?

We recommend that you check Wellstar’s COVID-19 resource center for the quickest and most convenient general information about COVID-19 vaccines. If you have additional questions, contact us at (770) 956-STAR (7827). If you call us, please be patient as call volumes have been very high recently.

• I tested positive for COVID-19. Can I still get the vaccine?

Yes, but if you have COVID-19 it is recommended you wait 30 days after your positive test result. If you have COVID-19 and have also had monoclonal antibody therapy or plasma it is recommended you wait 90 days.

• If I am allergic to eggs can I receive a vaccine?

Yes. You can be vaccinated if you have an egg allergy. Both Moderna and Pfizer are mRNA vaccines and do not require egg or egg products to manufacture.

• Can I trust vaccines developed so quickly?

Scientists began developing a vaccine more than a year ago when the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus genetic sequence became available, and Pfizer and Moderna had already been working with mRNA vaccines for several years. Because the vaccine includes mRNA and not a killed or attenuated virus, there’s no need to grow the virus in culture, which can be a difficult and time-consuming step.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s called a viral vector vaccine.
To create this vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson team took a harmless adenovirus – the viral vector – and replaced a small piece of its genetic instructions with coronavirus genes for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

The adenovirus vector vaccine is safe because the adenovirus can’t replicate in human cells or cause disease, and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can’t cause COVID–19 without the rest of the coronavirus.

This approach is not new. Johnson & Johnson used a similar method to make its Ebola vaccine.

Finally, the vaccines were tested in areas with a high infection rate so scientists were able to gauge effectiveness quickly. No shortcuts were taken in development of this vaccine.

• Does the vaccine contain a virus?

No. Neither the Pfizer, Moderna nor the Johnson & Johnson vaccines contain live virus. It is not possible for the vaccine to give you COVID-19.

• Once I get vaccinated, can I still contract COVID-19 and infect someone with the virus?

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness, including the Delta variant. According to the CDC, infections only happen in a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated and, when they do occur, infections are generally mild.

If a fully vaccinated person does contract COVID-19, they can spread the infection to others. That’s why it’s important to continue following the 3Ws — wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance — even after you are vaccinated.

• Can I stop wearing a mask after I get vaccinated?

Even after you are vaccinated, you should wear a mask. You should also continue to practice social distancing and proper handwashing. No vaccines for any illness are 100% effective, and it takes up to two weeks after the second vaccine for the body to reach peak immunity.

• Is it OK to take over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Advil (ibuprofen) after vaccination?

You can take over-the-counter pain relievers after the vaccine if you develop a mild reaction such as a headache or body aches.

• How do I schedule a vaccine?

Currently, Wellstar is not providing COVID-19 vaccinations at our medical offices. Find a vaccination site near you at vaccines.gov or visit a local retail pharmacy, such as CVS or Walgreens.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccines, visit the CDC website or our COVID-19 vaccine page to learn more.

The highly contagious Delta variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases and, along with it, a sharp rise in the demand for COVID-19 testing. To help meet the community’s needs, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is now conducting drive-through COVID-19 testing at Wellstar Paulding Urgent Care.

Hours of Operation

The DPH provides COVID-19 testing for people of all ages, and no appointment is necessary. The DPH drive-through site at Wellstar Paulding Urgent Care is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please note, this testing site is closed for holidays and in cases of inclement weather.

Directions for DPH Testing

Use the parking lot map below to find the right route for DPH testing:

By Dr. Asif Saberi, Medical Director of Critical Care and ECMO at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center & Associate Professor of Medicine at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta State University

This wave of the pandemic is unique. We have learned a lot about COVID-19 as a disease, and we have more therapeutic options today than we did in the spring and summer of 2020. But the disease continues to humble us with its tenacity and increased deadliness with each new iteration or surge, and now with its onslaught on the young and the healthy, it is hitting us where it hurts the most.

As a system, we continue to struggle with limited human resources. There are not as many healthcare workers as we need and the steadfast warriors who have stayed at their posts through about 18 months of the pandemic are weary and burnout is high.

This is an important rate-limiting step in our ability to provide one specific therapy, viz., ECMO, which, for a significant number of young people in the extreme manifestation of the disease, is possibly the difference between life and death. At my institution, the phones have not stopped ringing and we maintain a long list of patients who need ECMO. The most heart-wrenching task for us is the daily sorting of our list, moving someone down and eventually off the list as their likelihood of benefit from ECMO and ultimately survival recedes with time.

This is a call to my colleagues in ECMO. Physicians, ECMO specialists, perfusionists, ethicists, and thinkers. As a breed, we are constantly thinking about solutions that are not in any book. Can we solve this problem?