As the cold, flu and COVID season gets underway, you may be deciding whether or not to get a COVID shot.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has updated its COVID vaccine guidance to recommend immunization for people over 65 and only after they consult with a pharmacist or doctor.
In direct contrast, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has issued a standing order to local pharmacists allowing them to vaccinate people under the age of 65 with the cost covered by insurance.
Amid conflicting advice on whether you and your children should be immunized against the coronavirus, reporter Pamela Watts spoke with Dr. Jerry Larkin, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health:
Interview Highlights:
On Covid Shot Decisions:
Dr. Jerry Larkin: COVID vaccines are very safe. That’s been demonstrated time and time again. My best advice is that everyone who is eligible should get a COVID vaccination. So, who does that include? Any children from the ages of six months to 24 months should absolutely be immunized. They are at high risk of severe disease if they develop COVID. Anyone over the age of 19 should get a COVID vaccine booster in order to protect themselves as well as protect others. Between the ages of two years and 18 years. I align with the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends that it’s something that should be discussed with a child’s primary care provider to decide if it’s right for them.
On some Rhode Islanders’ ambivalence or complacency about getting the COVID vaccine:
Dr. Jerry Larkin: It’s not a big thing--until it’s not! For the COVID vaccine, it is not absolute that if you get the vaccine, you won’t get COVID. But what it does is it prevents you from having severe illness requiring hospitalization or even death. And we still see measurable death every year from COVID-19. And it actually protects other people. So, it’s a public health maneuver to protect those of us in our population who are more vulnerable.
On concerns New Englanders are influenced by U-S Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr because of his family’s name and legacy:
Dr. Larkin: I worry that they will listen to his recommendations because his recommendations are wrong and they’re not grounded in science and they’re not grounded in best medical practice. Whether or not he acquires some authority on account of his name, that’s troubling. Medical decisions should be made for a given individual in discussion with their primary care provider.
On whether pushback on FDA guidelines could affect federal funding that provides half of the Rhode Island Department of Health’s budget:
Dr. Larkin: One always is concerned about what any given action will provoke no matter what it is. The important thing to understand is that public health is and should be apolitical. Everything we do is apolitical. It is only in the interest of the people of the state of Rhode Island, or in the case of the collaboration of the other states that have joined us in this work.I would hope that that would not inspire any kind retaliation.
On personally getting the COVID-19 vaccine:
Dr. Larkin: Everybody should get the shot.I’ll be getting the shot.I certainly will have all my family immunized. Everyone should be vaccinated over the age of six months.
