Infectious Diseases

Depending on how far a person is willing to travel, it is now possible to get a vaccination within a few days after making an appointment through the New York State Department of Health website. But what about individuals who hesitate to get the vaccine? “Nothing in medicine is perfect right? There’s always a relative benefit to risk ratio for anything we do in life,” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Russo believes that a growing number of people who were initially skeptical and hesitant may be willing to take it. “It was an early concern, but I think people are feeling more comfortable that the vaccine is safe,” he says.

When asked to predict how the COVID-19 pandemic will be affecting the world one year from now, Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, commented: “If we can get people here in Western New York to step up and get vaccinated … If we can get at least that critical number of around 80 percent-plus vaccinated, I think we would be able to be back to where we were a couple of years ago, in terms of people getting together without masks in indoor settings. However, if we don’t have everyone step up — particularly people who are younger and healthy and who say ‘there’s no consequences to me if I get infected with COVID’ — or even people who have been previously infected, where their protection is not going to be as good as that conferred by the vaccines, then we may be living in a slightly different world,” says Russo. Creating herd immunity via vaccination is a community effort, he notes.

Could a New Yorker head to Ohio to get their COVID-19 vaccine? The answer is yes, depending on where you book an appointment. “Having this option for New York State residents to get vaccinated, if they’re not able to get vaccinated here in New York, is really fantastic. I suspect some people will be willing to take advantage of that,” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

In late summer, health officials began warning of a possible “twindemic,” involving both COVID-19 and seasonal flu. “Fortunately, that has not happened,” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. As of March 6, according to New York State Department of Health Flu Tracker, there were just under 4,000 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza in the state since the start of the most current flu season in the fall. Russo attributes the dramatic decrease in influenza this season mostly to the public health measures taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including the wearing of masks, efforts by individuals to keep physically distant from one another, the absence of people in workplaces and in schools, and prohibitions on large gatherings. “People have employed those public health measures to protect themselves from getting COVID, and that combination has really stuffed influenza quite effectively," Russo says.

Moderna has announced the start of a new trial that tests their COVID-19 vaccine in young children. The study, dubbed KidCOVE, which is a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, will test the vaccine on nearly 7,000 kids. John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, says: “Getting kids immunized is going to be a very important part of this moving on to getting a good level of protection in the community.” While studies show children are not as susceptible to getting COVID-19, Sellick says they can be carriers, which is why developing a pediatric vaccine is important.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidance for fully vaccinated people, noting that they can gather indoors in small groups without masks or physically distance with other fully vaccinated people. The CDC says you’re considered fully vaccinated if it has been at least two weeks since you had the second shot in a two-shot series (i.e., the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines) or if it has been at least two weeks since you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If you want to be really safe after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you’ll wait four weeks to consider yourself fully vaccinated, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

COVID-19 vaccine distribution is underway in the United States. You might feel fine and experience no side effects after the vaccine, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it’s possible to experience minor flu-like symptoms. The CDC says you should avoid taking an over-the-counter pain-relieving medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen before you get the vaccine. It is unclear at this point how these medications will impact the vaccine’s ability to create important COVID-fighting antibodies. Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, notes that data doesn’t definitively say taking acetaminophen or ibuprofen after getting vaccinated will interfere with the vaccine’s effectiveness.

President Joe Biden has ordered states to open up COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults as of May 1. He also urged the use of other medical staff to vaccinate Americans, including veterinarians, dentists and paramedics. Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, says the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is authorized for adults age 16 and up. Murphy does not anticipate any safety issues arising with the vaccine in children. “It's reasonable to be optimistic that they will be safe and effective in children,” he says. No one will be forced to get vaccinated, but experts urge everyone to at least consider it. “We're getting close to 100 million vaccines that have been administered,” Murphy says. “We have learned that it is, indeed, safe.”

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is interviewed for a story about most employees not wanting to return to the  office until everyone’s vaccinated. “If you only have half the people vaccinated [at work] and you have half the people susceptible to infection, that will be enough for this virus to propagate,” Russo said.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, was interviewed for stories about working out after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. There’s no indication that working out after you’re vaccinated would make you more or less likely to have side effects, Russo said.

John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in a story about the CDC's new guidance for those who are fully vaccinated. CDC guidelines regarding what fully vaccinated individuals may do should not be misinterpreted to relax rules for businesses or business settings too soon, Sellick said. “This is not a free pass to throw things to the wind and say we’re completely back to normal,” he said. “You have to look at it as part of an evolution, very carefully measured that as new science becomes available, we’re going to be able to change some of these things.”

John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, is interviewed in a story on pre-flight testing for COVID-19. Sellick said that an important issue with flying and COVID-19 transmission is that “people on a flight are all so close to one another.” He added that even the special air filtering systems used in many airplanes “don’t help when somebody is a foot away from you and they’re sick.”

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in stories about CDC guidelines for people who are fully vaccinated. It’s crucial for vaccinated people to understand that interacting with others who haven’t been vaccinated or infected carries “an undefined, finite risk,” Russo said. 

Jacobs School of Mecicine and Biomedical Sciences medical experts were quoted in a story answering questions on vaccines, and what activities people might be able to undertake after they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. The most vulnerable group to interact with is people whom scientists call immunologically naive: Those who have neither been vaccinated nor had COVID-19. “Once you’re fully vaccinated, now it's mostly about the risk you pose to others at this point that are immunologically naive,” said Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Regarding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, reports indicate it was 85 percent effective in preventing severe COVID-19 illness, and 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and death. “That’s just stunning,” said Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy.

John K. Crane, MD, PhD, and John A. Sellick Jr., DO, both professors of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, were interviewed for reaction to new CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated people. “I think that they’re good and they’re common sense and they’re things that those of us who have been fortunate enough to get the vaccine have already started doing,” Crane said. Sellick added: “Everybody is waiting on the magic word to say everything is better, you can throw away the masks and just move on and that’s not the way it’s gonna happen. It’s going to be a gradual evolution.”