We need everyones cooperation to slow the spread and save lives immediately. If you can work from home, work from home. If you have a playdate, dinner party, sleepover, barbeque, visit to a relative or other gathering scheduled, please cancel it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines underway in Louisiana, but vaccines only work for those who are alive to receive them., said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, Director of the New Orleans Health Department.
Health officials said appointments are based on vaccine availability, and current appointments may be adjusted based on the departments allotment.
HOUSTON Minute Maid Park is serving as a COVID vaccination site Saturday for those who have scheduled appointments.
NOTE: Houston Health Department is no longer taking appointments Saturday for vaccinations at Minute Maid Park.
Officials said the department is not able to accommodate the volume of people in line seeking the vaccine. Staff is taking names of people in line who have appointments to re-schedule for a future date.
If you have an appointment scheduled for Saturday at Bayou City Event Center, you should report to Minute Maid Park at your scheduled appointment time.
The Houston Health Department attempted to contact people who have appointments to inform them of the new location but were not able to connect with everyone.
Health officials said appointments are based on vaccine availability, and current appointments may be adjusted based on the departments allotment.
The Houston Health Department said they plan to vaccinate approximately 5,000 people, through 2,400 pre-scheduled appointments and 2,600 new appointments.
Saturday's mega site is for the first dose of vaccine. People who receive their first dose from the health department will be contacted and provided information about where to schedule their second dose within the appropriate timeframe.
People should arrive no earlier than 15-minutes before their appointment time to ensure site efficiency and reduce wait times.
It's important for people to park in lots A or B to begin the registration process. Minute Maid Park's home plate entrance will be used for the clinic.
The health department started administering Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to the general public who quality under Phase 1A or Phase 1B of the state's guidelines on January 2.
On Thursday, the health department received an additional 8,200 doses of vaccine, bringing its total to 30,350.
As of Thursday, the department administered a total of 18,658 doses at locations including Minute Maid Park, Bayou City Event Center, its Northside, La Nueva Casa de Amigos, Sharpstown and Sunnyside health centers, the JW Peavy Senior Center, and its Acres Homes, Hiram Clarke and Magnolia multi-service centers.
The department also transferred a total of 1,900 doses to other providers.
The health department will announce additional vaccination opportunities at its health centers, multi-service centers, community locations and via mobile units as supply increases.
Appointments are based on vaccine availability, and current appointments may be adjusted based on the departments allotment.
Many medical providers offer vaccine based on availability. People who qualify should contact their medical provider or use the Texas Department of State Health Services' online map to find and call vaccine providers.
Information about COVID-19 vaccines is available on HoustonEmergency.org/covid19.
The health department also operates a COVID-19 call center at 832-393-4220 Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call center hours are extended until 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Dr. Ivan Porter II, a Mayo Clinic nephrologist, was among the first to roll up his sleeves to be vaccinated for COVID-19 at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Dr. Porter says that he hopes others who are eligible will be inspired to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Seeing people that we know and people that we trust, and people that we care about, being vaccinated will hopefully make us all feel more comfortable about being vaccinated," Porter says. "We still have to continue the long, hard, arduous work that we've been doing for months until we get to a point where we're in a much better place."
Porter says front-line workers who work in emergency departments and ICUs, and directly care for patients with COVID-19, will now be able to work with a little less fear of becoming seriously ill with the virus. He says there are many other health care workers who also need to get vaccinated.
"There are multiple specialties that deal with patients who have COVID-19 that we may not think of that are in that front line," he says. "Anyone can be infected with this virus and be infectious because of the virus, and thus place everyone at risk. The only way that we'll be able to make progress is for us to be able to widely administer this vaccine."
Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is one part of the solution to end the pandemic. Porter says it's important to continue the recommended intervention strategies.
"We've got to continue to mask. We've got to continue to social distance, and we have to continue to pay attention to the things for basic disease prevention that have allowed us to do as well as we have done," he says.
As two new COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available, patients with cancer and cancer survivors may wonder if it's safe to be vaccinated.
"Because cancer patients and survivors are at higher risk for severe effects from COVID-19 infection, we recommend they get vaccinated as soon as they can," says Dr. Robert McWilliams, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic. "Patients who are immunosuppressed due to active cancer treatment may not get the same effective response as someone without immune compromise, but it should still be safe for them to receive the vaccine."
There is no definitive data on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in patients with cancer or cancer survivors. "However, the few patients with cancer who were studied as part of the clinical trials leading to the approval of these vaccines did not experience any unique side effects," says Dr. Joleen Hubbard, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic.
The good news for patients with cancer and cancer survivors is that the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are not live virus vaccines. That makes them less likely to cause side effects in immunosuppressed patients. "Both vaccines are mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines, which means they teach our bodies how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response without the use of a live virus that causes COVID-19," Hubbard says. "Once triggered by the protein, our immune system makes antibodies to protect us if we are exposed to the virus."
Patients should discuss any concerns they have about being vaccinated for COVID-19 with their health care provider.
A nurse has become the first person in Brazil to receive a coronavirus jab just hours after the country's health regulator approved two vaccines.
Monica Calazans, 54, who works on the coronavirus frontline, was vaccinated in a ceremony in Sao Paulo.
The rollout of the vaccines made by Sinovac and AstraZeneca comes after months of delay and political disputes over the immunisation programme.
Brazil currently has six million doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine ready to distribute in the next few days, and is awaiting the arrival of another two million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University jab.
"This is good news for Brazil, but six million doses are still very few," said Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist at the Federal University of Espirito Santo.
"It will not allow the entire population at risk to be fully immunised, nor is it clear how quickly the country will obtain more vaccines."
Vaccination in Brazil is beginning later than neighbours such as Argentina and Chile despite a robust public health system and decades of experience with immunisation campaigns.
The process to present and approve the COVID-19 vaccines was fraught with conflict, as allies of President Jair Bolsonaro sought to cast doubt on the efficacy of the Sinovac shot which had been backed by his political rival, Sao Paulo state's governor Joao Doria.
Health professionals on the frontline against coronavirus will be the first to receive the jabs.
It will then be extended to others including the indigenous population, people over 60 years of age and people with pre-existing conditions.
The South American country has now registered 8,455,059 cases since the pandemic began.
Its death toll has risen to 209,296 meaning only the US has suffered more fatalities, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
By now, youve seen friends and loved ones post pictures of their COVID-19 vaccination cards on social media. Those posts have either made you excited and caused you to anticipate your turn even more, or you still might be a little uneasy because you dont know what to expect. The thing about worry is that it can be put at ease when you do some research and talk to others about their experiences.
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We had a conversation with pulmonary medicine specialist Jafar Abunasser, MD, about his experience with getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Keep reading to find out what he has to say because it just might help you get in the right state of mind for vaccination day.
If youre wondering if you should take a pain reliever or anything else before your vaccination, Dr. Abunasser advises against it.
A few people have asked, Do you have to pre-medicate to prevent allergies or fevers? The answer to that is no. Its no different than any other vaccine. You dont prepare for the side effects. Instead, you would monitor for them after youve been vaccinated, he says.
But what you can do is talk to your doctor about any possible interactions or allergies in advance.
If youre scheduled to get your first dose, theres nothing that you need to do beforehand, but there are some precautions that you should take with any injection, he says. For example, if youre taking blood thinners, you should tell your healthcare provider that youre going to be getting aninjection so you can do whats necessary to avoid extra bleeding from the needle. So in general, review your medications and health conditions with your primary care physician to make sure that they are not going to interfere with your ability to get an injection.
As for allergies, Dr. Abunasser says they should not prevent you from getting vaccinated for COVID-19, but if youre not certain about being allergic to ingredients in Pfizer BioNTechs or Modernas vaccines, you can talk to your doctor, immunologist or allergist.
As far as allergies are concerned, hay fever or a peanut allergy are not contraindications to getting the vaccine, he says. Now, I will always tell someone who has an immunologist to talk about their concerns with their doctor since they know your individual case and can tell from your records or tests what you are actually allergic to. They can then check to see if there are any components in the vaccine that overlap with that.
If youve had an anaphylactic reaction to vaccines before, Dr. Abunasser doesnt recommend getting vaccinated right now.
Dr. Abunasser was among the first group of doctors to receive the vaccine when it was made available to frontline workers. He says the process took less than 30 minutes. In his case, he received a notification to schedule an appointment. He did so and filled out a vaccine questionnaire that was similar to the one that you fill out before getting a flu shot. When he arrived for his COVID-19 vaccination, he signed in and got his shot.
The vaccine takes all of 20 seconds to administer. Once you get the shot, they give you a card that has the date and the type of vaccine that you received Pfizer or Moderna on it. Then, they use a timer to monitor your for at least 15 minutes afterward just in case you were to have that rare allergic reaction while youre there. So, its a fairly seamless process, says Dr. Abunasser.
If you have a history of allergic reactions, that doesnt necessarily mean that you cant get the vaccine. But again, check with your doctor beforehand.
In the event that you have experienced a mild allergic reaction to another vaccine or injectable medication,you can safely receive thevaccine with the 15-minute monitoring period. This way, should you have a reaction, it can be managed quickly. At this point, however, we still recommend not receiving the vaccine if you have experienced an anaphylactic reaction to a prior vaccine, says Dr. Abunasser.
Dr. Abunasser says that a sore arm is pretty common and the soreness comes from the needle, not the actual vaccine. The soreness should go away in about a day or so. As for side effects of the vaccine, he states that some people have experienced headaches, fatigue, muscle aches or low-grade fevers.
While these symptoms are obviously a nuisance to have, theyre actually good news because they indicate that your immune system is working. Theyre signs that your immune system is activated and is producing antibodies. Thats a good thing to know.
The CDC lists the following as common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccination:
On the arm where you got the shot:
Throughout the rest of your body:
For pain or discomfort, the CDC recommends asking your doctor about over-the-counter treatment options. Contact your doctor in the event that:
To reduce discomfort from fever, the CDC recommends:
And to help with the pain or swelling in your arm from the injection:
For the most part, you can go about your day as you normally would after your COVID-19 vaccination. But if you start to feel the effects of it, theres nothing wrong with a little rest and self-care.
If you get the first dose, only to test positive days later, Dr. Abunasser says this shouldnt keep you from getting the second dose. He says that you should just monitor your symptoms and quarantine accordingly. If your symptoms resolve before your next dose, which will be three or four weeks after the first, you can get the second injection.
The only cases where youd want to skip the second dose would be if you had an allergic reaction to the first dose or if you did get sick with COVID-19 and received an infusion of a monoclonal antibody drug due to being at high risk or having a chronic medical condition(for example, Regenerons antibody cocktail REGN-COV2of the monoclonal antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab, or bamlanivumab). If you were put on an antibody regimen, Dr. Abunasser recommends postponing the second dose for about three months (90 days).
Getting the vaccine does not mean that youre automatically invincible. It takes time for the vaccine to take effect, so Dr. Abunasser stresses the importance of still practicing the protocols that have kept many of us safe during the pandemic.
After the first dose, it takes about a week for you to develop some antibody response, and you do get a partial immune response to the first dose, he says. So that is definitely good news. By no means does it mean complete immunity. The vaccine does provide some protection, but even after the two doses, it gives you about a 94% or 95% level of protection. Despite the fact that you may be protected we cant tell if you are still at risk of being an asymptomatic carrier and have the ability to carry the virus and spread the virus to others. So you cant assume that just because you get the vaccine that you are both protected and no longer capable of carrying the virus asymptomatically and spreading it to others.
Dr. Abunasser says that when the vaccines were tested, they were shown to protect the recipient from getting the disease itself. They showed that with the two-dose vaccine regimen, about 95% of the population would develop immunityin a fashion that would protect them from getting sick if exposed to the virus. However, that doesnt mean that an immune person cant carry the virus if they were exposed to it. Instead, it just means youre much less likely to get sick or develop symptoms. We dont know if getting immunity through vaccination also prevents you from being able to asymptomatically carry the virus and shed it, even if you yourself are protected.
He adds that while both vaccines were shown to be very effective, protecting up to 95% of those who received them, theres no way for us to tell who the other 5% will be. In other words, we dont know who will get the vaccine and not be a responder, and still be at risk for contracting COVID-19.
Because of those concerns, we have to realize that whilethe vaccines are very effective and valuable, they represent one facet of our response and work best when coupled with the preventative public health measures were already taking.
Since there still is a little bit of uncertainty regarding how everything works, Dr. Abunasser stresses the importance of remaining vigilant about stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Until we get this whole pandemic contained, we still have to follow the same recommendations the same procedures for physical distancing, universal masking and avoiding indoor gatherings or large numbers of people until community spread is at a level that will allow us to return to normal. The vaccine is just one tool in our kit to fight the pandemic. By no means is it complete, nor is it a license to give up on the other tools that we have.
In order for us to ever reach herd immunity, about 50% to 80% of the population will need to be vaccinated. Dr. Abunasser is hopeful and believes that we will get there.
I think its exciting and the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines really caught us all by surprise in a really good way. Weve dealt with pandemics and infectious disease outbreaks in the past and if you look throughout history, the way we contained and controlled pandemics was by social distancing, hand washing and universal masking. Eventually, we eradicated many outbreaks with a mass national vaccination program and thats where we are now. We need to meet this challenge head-on. We can handle it and we can get through this.
FILE PHOTO: Vials with a sticker reading, "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc has been holding on to second doses for each of its COVID-19 vaccinations at the request of the federal government and anticipates no problems supplying them to Americans, a spokeswoman said in a statement on Friday.
Pfizers comments run counter to a report in the Washington Post that the federal government ran down its vaccine reserve in late December and has no remaining reserves of doses on hand.
Operation Warp Speed has asked us to start shipping second doses only recently, the spokeswoman said. As a result, we have on hand all the second doses of the previous shipments to the US.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.
Pfizer has shipped more than 15 million doses to destinations around the United States, primarily from its Michigan facility, and expects to be able to produce around 2 billion doses worldwide in 2021, the spokeswoman said.
The United States has been struggling to administer the shots that have been distributed, however. Only around 12 million of the more than 31 million doses that have been shipped have been administered, according to data from the U.S. Centers from Disease Control and Prevention.
Scattered vaccine shortages were reported on the front lines of the U.S. battle against the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, prompting at least one large healthcare system to cancel a slew of appointments of people hoping to be inoculated.
Earlier on Friday, Pfizer announced there would be a temporary impact on shipments to European countries in late January to early February caused by changes to manufacturing processes to boost output. [L1N2JQ0V3]
Around nine of the 27 governments in the European Union complained of insufficient doses at a meeting this week, a participant said.
Reporting by Carl ODonnell; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sonya Hepinstall
Posted: Jan 16, 2021 / 11:41 PM EST / Updated: Jan 16, 2021 / 11:41 PM EST
HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) There have been some frustrations with the rate of vaccinations across Virginia.
Saturday, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) gave an update on the states plan to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Saturday, VDH is reporting that its health officials have administered 295,202 doses.
That is out of the total number of vaccines distributed throughout Virginia of 943,400.
They have been steadily increasing the number of doses a day and health department leaders believe they are moving in the right direction.
There are still a lot of questions.
There is a gap there and I think its led a lot of people to ask questions like what is going on? Are doses sitting on shelves? How are we not getting doses to people who need it?' questioned Dr. Danny Avula.
Leaders said much of that is in part due to the distributors and making sure the vaccine is getting to the right channels.
Primarily through hospitals, through health departments, through private providers, through pharmacies, and then also through the long-term care facilities, said Avula.
As we move forward into phase 1b, we know people like first responders, childcare workers, and food service workers will be included but the Commonwealth has taken the suggestion to add another group to the 1b category.
As a Commonwealth, we decided to follow the federal governments lead andadd those 65 and up and those with underlying conditions to our phase 1b, Avula continued.
They are now getting more than 100,000 doses a week andmuch of the state is looking for the second dose shipment.
This vaccine is a two-dose vaccine and the way the federal government has been out allocating that, theyve been sending out doses and holding back second doses. Then, delivering the second doses to different providers as they came up ready to do that round of second doses. So, we are hearing very consistent messaging that all of those doses will be released, he said.
Overall, the future of the vaccine in the state is relies on one thing.
Our future allocations, our ability to get more vaccines in Virginia is really going to be dependent on having clear and accurate data, and knowing how much, exactly, the vaccine has been used, he said.
State leaders say they expect more shipments to come sometime in March.
Over 400 cases of adverse event following immunisation were reported in two days after India had commenced the "world's largest vaccination drive" on 16 January, the health ministry said on Sunday. Around 2.24 lakh healthcare and frontline workers were inoculated in the first two days of the inoculation drive.
"447 cases of AEFI (Adverse event following immunization) reported on 16th and 17th January, only three required hospitalisation," the health ministry stated on Saturday. Any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunisation and does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine, is known as AEFI, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).
Of these, one has been discharged from Northern Railway Hospital Delhi within 24 hours; one has been discharged from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi; and one is under observation in AIIMS Rishikesh and is being monitored," said Manohar Agnani, additional secretary, ministry of health and family welfare.
Protocols are in place for reporting, immediate case management at vaccination session site, transportation and hospitalization and further care of such cases. Protocols are also in place for systematic investigation and causality assessment of serious AEFIs," he said.
A worker in All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) was admitted to a hospital as he developed an allergic reaction after getting Covaxin shot on Saturday.
"An All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi security guard has developed an allergic reaction after receiving COVID-19 vaccination here on Saturday. He is kept under observation of doctors at the hospital," an AIIMS official said.
He was discharged later.
At least 17,072 beneficiaries received COVID-19 vaccine on the second day of nationwide inoculation drive. A total of 553 sessions were held in six States Andhra Pradesh (308), Arunachal Pradesh (14), Karnataka (64), Kerala (1), Manipur (1) and Tamil Nadu (165).
India has vaccinated the highest number of persons on first day under its COVID-19 vaccination program, the worlds largest such exercise. This is much higher than many other countries such as USA, the UK and France. Total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till today as per the provisional report," said Agnani.
States/UTs have been advised to plan covid-19 vaccination sessions four days in a week to minimize disruption of the Routine Health Services. Some states have already publicized their weekly vaccination days," said Agnani.
The union health ministry also had a meeting with all states on Sunday to review the progress of the vaccination drive.
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When nurse Chiara Gelli moved from Queensland to the UK with her partner in December 2019, she couldn't have known the coronavirus pandemic would turn her life upside down in a matter of months.
"My initial plan was to travel around and work here and there, just picking up shifts," the 25-year-old told the ABC.
"When we first moved here, the pandemic barely even started. We had no idea it was going to be what it is.
"It just flipped my whole year on its head. All the plans we had just got pretty much thrown out the window."
The UK soon became an epicentre of coronavirus in Europe; more than 80,000 people have died in Britain, the fifth-highest official death toll in the world, and it's estimated one in 50 people have been infected with the virus.
But Ms Gelli didn't hesitate to put her hand up to join an emergency department in the north-east of England to fight the virus.
"[It] is a really amazing thing to be a part of, even though it's incredibly hard. You learn so much from it," she said.
"It makes a really strong bond between you and your workmates."
The UK has since become the first country to approve vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
As a frontline worker, Ms Gelli was among the first wave of people to receive the Pfizer injection.
She said it was normal for many health workers to be vaccinated at her hospital and it was a smooth process.
"[The nurse] had to handle the vaccine in a very delicate manner, they're not allowed to handle the vaccine with sudden movements, shaking or tapping," Ms Gelli said.
"But the whole process was easy. It was literally just like getting any other vaccine.
"I didn't feel sick or anything, I went to work the next day on Christmas."
Governments around the world are scrambling to vaccinate their citizens, following the emergence of highly transmittable mutant strains of COVID-19 that have posed new challenges.
The British Government has recently been under fire for delaying second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, saying it wanted to give as many people as possible just the first shot now, citing a supply issue.
As the UK rolls out Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the next stage of its vaccine research begins.
Ms Gelli said she was due for her second shot last week, but she recently received an email from the National Health Service (NHS) saying the window had been extended to up to 12 weeks under the latest national guidance.
"The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is confident 12 weeks is a reasonable dosing interval to achieve good longer-term protection," the email read.
"At the start it concerned me," Ms Gelli said.
"They reckon it is acceptable to have the second dose within the 12-week time frame since having the first dose.
"Don't know how true that is, but we will see."
This month, BioNTech and partner Pfizer said "there is no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days", according to Reuters.
Despite that, Ms Gelli said she was grateful to be part of the vaccination program.
"It was a bit of a Christmas present," she said.
"I think they're still finding some more stuff out as we go through it, but I'm happy to be the guinea pig to be honest."
So far, Britain has given some 2 million people a COVID-19 vaccination and is aiming to vaccinate about 14 million people by mid-February.
Across the pond, Alison Kirkpatrick, an occupational therapist at a trauma hospital in Dallas, Texas, is now fully vaccinated.
She said her hospital was the first in North Dallas to receive the Pfizer vaccine and 75 per cent of the employees were now vaccinated.
Ms Kirkpatrick, who is a dual US-Australian citizen, said she was warned about some minimal side effects when it came to the second dose.
"There may be things like fatigue, muscle aches, soreness, a fever, and things like that," she said.
"I was a little bit more worried for the second jab, but honestly, I didn't have any reactions at all to either of them."
Although there are some reports of people having severe allergic reactions afterwards, that didn't deter her.
She sought peace of mind by educating herself.
"I had done a lot of research before I volunteered to receive it," Ms Kirkpatrick said.
"I've read up a lot about the theory of the messenger RNA (mRNA), and the process of how the vaccine was supposed to work, because a lot of people are scared of a new vaccine."
One's slow, one's never worked and the other could 'go rogue' inside you: three options for a coronavirus vaccine to free the world.
The US has been hit hard by the pandemic, with more than 4,000 deaths recorded within just 24 hours a week ago.
For Ms Kirkpatrick, being a health worker meant having close to no social life at all, along with countless periods of self-isolation to protect others from potential COVID-19 exposure.
"All the people that I work with were very protective, we stay in a very small circle," she said.
"We have probably socially isolated more than anybody else in the country because of the type of work that we do.
"I run marathons when I'm not working, [but] I've been hesitant to go out and go to a running group or a training group since I've been working in the hospital."
Ms Kirkpatrick said she hoped getting vaccinated would bring her one step closer to a normal life.
"I'm looking forward to just being able to maybe go out and have a meal at a restaurant maybe go to the supermarket when it's not the crack of dawn, and nobody else is there," she said.
While more than 40 countries have begun administering COVID-19 vaccines, Australia is yet to begin its rollout.
Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison brought forward the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to mid-to-late February from March, with a target of inoculating 4 million people by the end of March.
But for some Australians stranded overseas like Richard Anese, that can't come soon enough.
Mr Anese is a former aircrew member who is currently stuck in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He volunteered in a trial program for the Chinese vaccine developed by Sinopharm in August last year.
"I just thought when all your decisions are taken away from you it's just so important for yourself to actually be able to make just even one," the 57-year-old originally from Sydney told the ABC.
"I also wanted to contribute my small part to humanity."
The UAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said on Monday the country had achieved a vaccine distribution rate of 11.8 doses per 100 people, which is just second behind Israel globally.
Mr Anese said he thought Western countries could learn from the UAE when it came to the vaccine rollout.
"This was due to a nationalised approach, the uptake and the compliance level was incredibly high as a result," he said.
"I think [the vaccination] should have been mandated in the first instance, there shouldn't have been any delay with that [in Australia]."
Others like Ms Kirkpatrick saw the merits of both approaches.
"Here in the US we can't afford the time to wait," she said.
"On the other hand, [Australia] can afford to be hesitant because of the way they've managed it in the first place."
For Ms Gelli, she said she hoped being vaccinated would get her home sooner.
"Naturally, I just want to come home, I'm a big home girl and I'm not one for cold weather," she said.
"My message is don't be scared to get the vaccine at all. I am the living proof that it's perfectly fine."
The ABC asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) whether being vaccinated would speed up the process for Australians looking to return from overseas.
"At this time, vaccination against COVID-19 does not change the mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers to Australia at designated facilities in the first port of arrival," DFAT said in a statement.
"When can I get the COVID vaccine?" Many Iowans are asking this question. And while there are seemingly moreunknowns than answers, here's what we know right now.
Look at the chart below to find your age group to seeif you or your loved ones qualify for the coronavirus vaccine in Iowa.
If you are wondering why people under 75 with medical conditions aren't qualified, that's because the state has not yet prioritized that group, unless a person meets other criteria, such as working or living in an at-risk setting(details in the chart below). The state is expected to provide more information soon, onceofficials "have reasonable confidence that supply meets the demands of this broader eligibility criteria."
Read more:Q&A: What we know about Iowa's COVID vaccine plan
This graphic was updated with information available as of Jan. 15, 2021.
Source: Iowa Department of Public Health and local health departments.
What questions do you have about the vaccine?
Do you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine? Share your questions in the form at this link, and we'll work to find the answers.
