Doctors explain who should not get COVID-19 vaccine

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The United States could have two approved coronavirus vaccines by the end of 2020.

Monday, the first person in Kentucky received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine after it was approved by the FDA on Friday. Since then, Norton Healthcare, Baptist Health, and Clark Memorial Health in Southern Indiana have administered their first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Although local doctors are seeing promising results, some are still skeptical about the new vaccine. As the rollout continues, this is who Dr. Jason Smith with U of L Health said should get it first:

• Healthcare workers
• Long-term care residents and staff
• Anyone 65 years or older
• Patients with a chronic medical condition
• Essential workers

When more doses are available to the general public, Smith said anyone 16 years or older should also get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

However, there are warnings about certain group: People with severe allergies, immunocompromised and pregnant people.

If you belong to one of these groups, that doesn’t mean you’re ineligible for the vaccine. It just means you should talk to your doctor before getting it because there’s not enough testing on these groups of people.

So far, Smith said doctors have not seen any complications from Pfizer’s vaccine at UofL Health.

“At least what we see to start with, there does not seem to be any evidence of anaphylactic reaction to the vaccine,” Smith said. “To be honest with you, what we see inside the vaccine itself, how it’s formulated, I as a physician and scientist can’t see how that vaccine itself would cause anaphylactic shock because it doesn’t quite work the same way.”

Even if you’ve had COVID-19, Dr. Smith said you should still get the vaccine once it becomes available to you. Because at this time, there is not enough evidence to explain how long those antibodies will be in your system.

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