We cannot thank you enough for your commitment to our community this year! You made in-person living and learning possible. Your willingness to wear masks, to test, to distance, and to navigate this pandemic together have made our community stronger. Here are some quick numbers on Spring Semester:

• We have taken 93,000 tests on campus since January, identifying 339 positive cases
• 73% of the campus has reported receiving at least one dose of the vaccine; this includes 77% of undergraduate students and 69% of faculty and staff.

Below please find important updates for the weeks ahead regarding the campus mask policy, walk-in vaccine clinics, test exemptions, and more.

New Mask Policy Outdoors

In line with new guidance from the and , 黑料不打烊 will be altering its face covering policy. Effective immediately today, Friday, April 30, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to wear masks outdoors except in crowded settings and venues where physical distancing is not being practiced.

黑料不打烊’s indoor mask policy is unchanged. Face coverings over the nose and mouth are required at all times inside buildings unless alone in your room or workspaces. This includes classrooms, public restrooms, open office and common spaces, hallways, meeting rooms, libraries, theaters, and other indoor spaces.

Upcoming Walk-In Vaccine Clinics on Campus

黑料不打烊 will offer walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations in the Koury Athletics Concourse (outside Alumni Gym) from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4; Wednesday, May 5; Thursday, May 6; and Monday, May 10.

• No appointments are necessary for this vaccination clinic. Please take advantage of this free and convenient opportunity to get your vaccination.

Test Exemption Extended

Following new guidance from the , students, faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated (two weeks past their final dose) and have will be exempt from testing for the remainder of Spring Semester and through the end of Summer Session II (July 31, 2021).

• Anyone experiencing symptoms must still be tested, as will close contacts with symptoms.
• Students, faculty, and staff on campus who are not fully vaccinated must continue COVID-19 testing (weekly for undergraduates and monthly for graduate students, faculty, and staff).
• Those who are exempt are still allowed to test (weekly for undergraduates, monthly for graduate students, staff, and faculty).

Test Site Move/Schedule and Departure Testing

On May 12, testing will move from Alumni Gym to McCoy Commons 207 in The Oaks residential neighborhood.

SCHEDULE

Through Tuesday, May 11: 8:30 a.m.-noon, 12:45-3:45 p.m.,聽Alumni Gym

Wednesday, May 12 – Tuesday, May 18: 8:30 a.m.-noon, 12:45-3:45 p.m. (no appointment needed), McCoy Commons 207 (The Oaks residential neighborhood)

Wednesday, May 19 & Thursday, May 20:聽12:45-3:45 p.m.聽(no appointment needed), McCoy Commons 207

Friday May 21:聽Commencement鈥攏o testing

May 24-July 30: Mondays 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Wednesdays noon-4 p.m. (no appointment needed), McCoy Commons 聽207
Seniors are encouraged to get tested before friends and family arrive for Commencement on Wednesday, May 19 & Thursday, May 20 (see above).

Contact the Ready & Resilient hotline at 336.278.2020 (M-F, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.) with questions.

Thank you for your dedication to keeping the 黑料不打烊 community safe this year. We wish you a healthy and successful conclusion to the semester!

Jeff Stein, Ready and Resilient Committee Chair

• Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
• Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
• MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
• John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
• Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
• Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the 黑料不打烊 Poll (Academic Council Representative)
• Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
• Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
• Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
• Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
• Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
• Gabie Smith, Dean of 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
• Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
• Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
• Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education

鈥淭hank you again for removing barriers and making this a little easier,鈥� wrote one person on Twitter.

Those thanks go to Joe Bruno 鈥�14, who is putting his Twitter following and news-gathering skills to work to help connect people with COVID-19 vaccination appointments. With nearly 34,000 followers on Twitter (), Bruno can quickly spread word about appointments available at a pharmacy in Salisbury, a new vaccination location in Gaston County or extra doses available at a Charlotte clinic.

鈥淚鈥檓 just happy to give people a shot at trying to get those shots,鈥� said Bruno, an award-winning journalist with ABC affiliate WSOC in Charlotte. 鈥淭he whole reason I鈥檓 doing this is so we can get back to normal sooner.鈥�

Bruno鈥檚 effort started about a month ago when he received some information about open vaccine appointments and tweeted it out. That simple tweet prompted multiple responses from members of a grateful public, some of whom wanted to receive the vaccine but were having difficulty navigating the appointment scheduling process.

鈥淭hat was when it clicked with me how challenging a process this is right now,鈥� Bruno said. 鈥淚t can be so hard to find open appointments.鈥�

Bruno has since added collecting and distributing vaccination appointment information to his role as a government and breaking news reporter with WSOC. Nights and weekends, even when he鈥檚 off the clock, he鈥檚 letting people know where they can get a shot. His initial focus was on Mecklenburg County, but he has since expanded his coverage area to include about 20 counties.

His station so viewers have a resource they can use to find shots.

Bruno said he has become a resource for smaller local pharmacies who may not have the marketing resources to promote appointments. Recently, he received a call from a pharmacy that had nine doses that would expire within an hour and wanted help getting the word out. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a little stressful,鈥� Bruno said.

So what are some tips for finding open vaccination appointments? Here are a few from Bruno:

• CVS and Walgreens, two national pharmacies that are providing vaccinations at their locations, have been uploading a lot of new appointment slots on weekend mornings, so that鈥檚 a good time to check.
• Check with your local pharmacy. They may not have the resources to advertise, but many are holding vaccination clinics.
• If you are able to secure an 鈥渆xtra鈥� dose at the end of the day from a clinic that had unfilled appointments, make sure you are guaranteed to have an appointment for your second dose.
• Don’t cancel a scheduled appointment for a second dose unless you have a replacement appointment lined up. It can be very difficult to schedule second-dose appointments.
• Be willing to travel. Bruno said that demand is outpacing supply right now in many areas, but that鈥檚 not the case in some areas of the state.

Vice President Jeff Stein, chair of the Ready & Resilient Committee, has this important message about the clinic and the weeks ahead:

When is the vaccine clinic?

This vaccine event will occur over five days. 黑料不打烊 staff and volunteers will administer these vaccines to all eligible persons as appointments are available:

• Tuesday, April 6聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
• Wednesday, April 7聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
• Thursday, April 8
• Friday, April 9
• Monday, April 12聽

Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time and wear a short-sleeved shirt so the vaccinator can easily access the vaccine site. You must sit for at least 15 minutes following your appointment. You should eat and be well-hydrated prior to attending your appointment.

Where will the clinic be held?

All vaccines for this event will be administered at the聽黑料不打烊鈥檚 South Gym, 329 South Antioch Avenue.

How do I make an appointment?

Advance appointments are聽required and may be made using the following steps:

Schedule an appointment online by clicking this link:聽聽. Enter the zip code (27244). 鈥満诹喜淮蜢肉�� will appear as an option with a link to our appointments. The page will include details on how to be placed on a waitlist if all appointment slots are taken. You may also call the Ready and Resilient number at 336-278-2020 to schedule an appointment.

Get more details on this clinic here.

黑料不打烊 has received approximately 1,800 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to administer to people in North Carolina Vaccination Groups 1-5 (). Sign-up for appointments is now available 鈥� see details and link below.

All doses are Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) single-dose vaccines; you must be 18 years old or older to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. You will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after you receive the single dose.

Who is eligible?

Anyone in Groups 1-4, including all faculty, staff, and students are currently eligible, and individuals in Group 5 will be eligible on April 7.

This vaccine event will be open to eligible individuals 18 or older regardless of affiliation to 黑料不打烊. Students are encouraged to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

You may also share this vaccine information with any eligible individual 18 or older who may still need a vaccine.

When is the vaccine clinic?

This vaccine event will occur over five days. 黑料不打烊 staff and volunteers will administer these vaccines to all eligible persons as appointments are available:

• Tuesday, April 6聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
• Wednesday, April 7聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
• Thursday, April 8
• Friday, April 9
• Monday, April 12聽

Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time and wear a short-sleeved shirt so the vaccinator can easily access the vaccine site. You must sit for at least 15 minutes following your appointment. You should eat and be well-hydrated prior to attending your appointment.

Where will the clinic be held?

All vaccines for this event will be administered at the 黑料不打烊’s South Gym, 329 South Antioch Avenue.

How do I make an appointment?

Advance appointments are聽required and may be made using the following steps:

• Schedule an appointment online by clicking this link:聽 .
  • Enter the zip code (27244). “黑料不打烊” will appear as an option with a link to our appointments.
  • The page will include details on how to be placed on a waitlist if all appointment slots are taken.

• You may also call the Ready and Resilient number at 336-278-2020 to schedule an appointment.

If for some reason you need to cancel your appointment please follow the directions or call the Ready and Resilient Line at 336-278-2020.

How do I provide proof of vaccination documentation to the university?

To be eligible for the 90-day exemptions from required campus testing or quarantining as close contact, you must complete the . You will receive instructions about uploading your Johnson and Johnson vaccine documentation at the time of your vaccine. You will be considered fully vaccinated and eligible for the exemptions 14 days after your shot.

Will there be future on-campus vaccine clinics?

While we will try to serve everyone who wants a vaccine, please understand this supply of doses on campus is limited and this event is open to the community. We will continue to work with health officials to request additional supplies for on-campus distribution in the future. In the meantime, you can find additional vaccine information, including off-campus availability, here on the Ready and Resilient website.

Where can I find additional information?

• If you have general questions about vaccines, basic facts are available .
• If you have questions about this on-campus vaccine clinic, please contact the Ready and Resilient Team at ready2020@elon.edu or 336-278-2020.

—

Dr. Jon Dooley

Vice President for Student Life

The announcement means the vast majority of 黑料不打烊 students will be able to receive the vaccine earlier than originally anticipated. Currently, only students who work for the university or who have high-risk medical conditions are eligible for vaccination as part of the state鈥檚 vaccination Group 4.

State officials explained that the accelerated timeline for vaccine eligibility will allow the state to double down on its 鈥渇ast and fair鈥� approach to getting shots in arms.

黑料不打烊 students, staff and faculty are strongly encouraged to get the vaccine wherever and whenever it is available to them. Everyone is asked to get vaccinated as soon as possible, to upload their vaccination record to the university鈥檚 web portal, and to help others get appointments and get vaccinated.聽Thanks to the expanding availability of the vaccines in North Carolina and the state鈥檚 vaccination plan, 黑料不打烊 hopes to get up to 80 percent of the campus community vaccinated by early May.

黑料不打烊 has been approved by state health officials to be a vaccine distribution site, with its ability to dispense vaccinations dependent upon vaccine supplies. The university will share details about future on-campus vaccination clinics once they are available.

Once students are eligible to receive a vaccine, they may visit the sites below for assistance in making a vaccination appointment. More information is also available on the university鈥檚 dedicated vaccination website.

• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
• 聽(or call 336-890-1188, Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.)
• (drive-thru and indoor clinic)

Dr. Melissa Murfin and Dr. Cindy Bennett, associate professors in the PA program, along with Nita Skillman, director of the Client and Standardized Patient Program, will collaborate on the initiative, which aims to find whether COVID-19 vaccines stimulate antibodies that last up to a year.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the question nobody knows the answer to yet,鈥� Murfin said. 鈥淪o if we can get some good data, then we鈥檇 be contributing to that world pool of knowledge on what COVID really looks like on the other side.鈥�

Participants will receive free COVID-19 antibody testing for the duration of the study, including an initial test to check for antibodies prior to vaccination. Participants will receive four additional antibody tests over the course of the year following vaccination to continue to monitor the presence of COVID-19 antibodies. Researchers will also record each participant鈥檚 vaccine brand to determine whether there are differences in the life of the antibodies stimulated by the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Enrollment for the study is open to all 黑料不打烊 students, faculty and staff over the age of 18 who have not tested positive for COVID-19 and have not yet been vaccinated. Anyone interested in taking part in the study can learn more and apply .

As millions of people across the globe continue to receive their COVID-19 vaccines, Murfin, Bennett and Skillman hope this research answers lingering questions and offers part of a solution to the challenges facing the world over the past year.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited to be part of this because that world community knowledge base about COVID is developed one small piece at a time. No one individual piece tells you everything, but a thousand little pieces all put together tell us something really huge.鈥�

That announcement meant that help and hope were just around the corner, with the vaccine now being widely administered to millions of Americans in a historic effort to end the pandemic.

As an associate in Moderna鈥檚 DNA manufacturing department, 黑料不打烊 alumnus Chris Adamik 鈥�20 was part of a team that manufactured the DNA to develop the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. Adamik began his position with the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company in June, just after graduating from 黑料不打烊 with a B.S. in biochemistry.

What鈥檚 your role at Moderna?

I am responsible for growing and purifying the DNA for future manufacturing departments. I was also present on the team when we were manufacturing the DNA for our mRNA-1273 vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 vaccine). The DNA we manufacture is used for our trials and vaccines.

What has it been like working at Moderna during the pandemic and the development of this life-saving vaccine?

The work atmosphere is one filled with scientific rigor and as a recent graduate, I鈥檓 excited to be surrounded by fellow scientific minds. Naturally, work environments during a pandemic are different, but I鈥檝e been amazed at how wonderfully Moderna has responded and implemented strategies to maintain a safe work environment: We are tested daily for COVID, public spaces have maximum capacities, and there鈥檚 never an alcove without a box packed with fresh masks. While the mRNA-1273 vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 vaccine) is our major focus, we haven鈥檛 stopped working on our other pipelines. Our urgency while manufacturing the vaccine is equally matched by our quality. It鈥檚 great to be surrounded by type-A personalities.

How did studying biochemistry at 黑料不打烊 prepare you for this work?

My biochemistry major prepared me so much for post-grad. 黑料不打烊鈥檚 biochemistry labs are the most applicable to my current work experience. In the lab, we start with a cell. We grow that cell, break open the cell to reach its genetic information, and purify the cell goo to achieve the genetic information we are interested in. I was amazed at how much of the process I knew prior to walking into Moderna on my first day. So, thank you, biochemistry lab!

The biochemistry senior seminar was also instructive. The focus for our capstone course analyzed novel biochemical techniques. As my professors and classmates know, I have a weird obsession with the kidney. I decided to do my research on novel microscopy. In that moment, I was truly the happiest I鈥檝e ever been while learning science. I implemented prior knowledge from every class and applied it to a field of science I was obsessed with. On top of that, learning about a novel technique made me feel like a genuine scientist 鈥� and that鈥檚 what brought me closer to Moderna.

When you learn about vaccines (e.g., MMR, flu, HPV, tetanus), they all incorporate a part of the virus that will cause an immune response. Vaccines have been theorized and postulated by immunologists, epidemiologists, and scientists alike since the 1790s. The vaccine we are working on at Moderna incorporates a new aspect of the virus: genetic information. This is a novel modality and a truly full-circle event for me.

How did 黑料不打烊 science faculty put you on the path to becoming a biochemist?

I鈥檝e had a couple of months to reminisce about my time at 黑料不打烊. Yes, I was a biochemistry major, but at the end of the day, I was and am so grateful to have meandered through my science degree. I need to give credit to my professors.

I am able to talk about science, work with science, and basically eat/breathe/sleep science 鈥� and it鈥檚 all thanks to my professors. Sure, you have to intrinsically love science to want to be surrounded by it but having those professors there to help you appreciate and comprehend the natural phenomena galvanizes a wannabe science major into a science fanatic.

Science is a subject that is both admired and feared. We need more science professors who are not only passionately curious about science, but also able to translate science. I had my share of 黑料不打烊 faculty who were able to translate this auspicious realm we call science. I can鈥檛 say 鈥渢hank you鈥� enough to my science professors, and I hope they all know how much I appreciate them for being a part of my life.

The vaccination clinic was set up in the new nursing education suite in the Francis Center, headquarters of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 School of Health Sciences. The university鈥檚 Infectious Disease Response Team coordinated the setup, which was staffed by qualified campus staff members who meet training standards for vaccine administration.

This first clinic sets the stage for a potential larger campus vaccination effort, should the university receive additional vaccine supplies. 黑料不打烊 has been approved by the state to host vaccine distribution for the campus and the general public in the region. If a supply of doses becomes available, 黑料不打烊 will announce details and activate a registration system.

In the meantime, 黑料不打烊 students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to seek out off-campus vaccination opportunities whenever and wherever they are available. The Ready & Resilient website maintains a webpage with links to many different vaccination distribution points in the region.

All 黑料不打烊 faculty, staff and student employees are now eligible to receive the vaccine. As of April 7, all other students who live in group housing arrangements, including campus residence halls and off-campus group apartments will be eligible.

Great news this week about COVID-19 vaccinations: North Carolina has moved up the dates on its vaccination plan. All 黑料不打烊 faculty, staff and student employees are now eligible to receive the vaccine. As of April 7, students living in residence halls and apartment complexes will be eligible.

Today we announce our campus goal for at least 80% of our campus community to be vaccinated by the end of April.

Until we reach that goal, all of us 鈥� whether we are vaccinated or not 鈥� must:

• Continue wearing masks, distancing, and limiting gathering sizes.
• Get Ready, Get Vaccinated, Get Records Uploaded, & Help Others.

Get Ready

Get ready now by learning about your eligibility date, familiarizing yourself with possible vaccine sites, and planning how you will get to the vaccination site.

The updated Ready & Resilient vaccine website contains the latest information about eligibility and vaccination site locations. (just click the 鈥渋nformation for employees鈥� or information for students鈥� buttons).

Survey: Please to share your needs for support in securing vaccines, recommended vaccine sites, etc.

Get Vaccinated

Students, staff, and faculty are strongly encouraged to get the vaccine wherever and whenever it is available to them, even if that means traveling to neighboring counties or cities. Check the updated vaccine page (with student/fac/staff links) for updates about sites and appointments.

Eligibility Dates

• Faculty, staff, and student employees: Now eligible as frontline essential workers in .
• Students with certain high-risk medical conditions: Eligible beginning March 17 in .
• Students who live in residence halls and other group living situations: Eligible beginning April 7 in Group 4.

The Infectious Disease Team continues working to obtain vaccine doses to be administered on campus. We will notify the campus if this opportunity arises.

Get Your Vaccine Record Uploaded

Students, faculty, and staff must and attach their vaccination record card to be considered fully vaccinated.

• IT staff are creating a process for uploading vaccine record cards while visiting the testing site in Alumni Gym.
• Click here to read requirements about testing and quarantine until 14 days after being fully vaccinated.

Help Others

Share Information and Skills

We encourage everyone to share information about appointments, test sites, and available doses as well as to volunteer at vaccine sites. Student orgs, departments, and residence halls can identify captains/leaders to help their own group members get appointments or volunteer to help local communities who do not have access, services, or expertise to navigate online registration systems.

Volunteer!

• will need volunteers, starting next week at a new vaccine site. Details and a signup link will be shared soon.
• The Infectious Disease Team will need many volunteers to help, if we receive supplies for a campus vaccine clinic.
• Staff Volunteer Hours: With supervisor approval, staff may use the 16 annual volunteer hours to support COVID-19 related needs in our communities. To report leave hours, click on the 鈥淒isaster Relief鈥� category under volunteer hours.
• Volunteers should follow guidelines for masking, distancing, and limiting group size.

We will share more information as it becomes available. Thank you for getting ready, getting vaccinated, getting your documentation uploaded, and helping others to do the same,

Jeff Stein, Ready & Resilient Committee Chair

The Ready & Resilient Committee

• Jeff Stein, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Assistant Professor of English (Chair)
• Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
• Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
• MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
• John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
• Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
• Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the 黑料不打烊 Poll (Academic Council Representative)
• Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
• Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
• Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
• Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
• Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
• Gabie Smith, Dean of 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
• Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
• Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
• Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education

As COVID-19 vaccination efforts expand nationally, there are many among the U.S. population who are reluctant to receive one of the newly developed vaccines. That reluctance is based on many factors, including their views of the virus, the process and speed with which these vaccines were developed, the fear of potential side effects, and historical abuses of marginalized populations by the medical industry.

An 黑料不打烊 Poll survey conducted in late January found that a growing number of North Carolinians are in favor of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, with nearly 60 percent of N.C. adults saying they have received the vaccine or will take it once it鈥檚 available. That rate was lower among Black residents and other people of color, Republicans and women.

We caught up with Jessica Merricks, assistant professor of biology, to get her take on the science behind the vaccine and its development, why certain populations may be more reluctant to take the vaccine, and what she鈥檚 looking for as vaccination efforts progress.

What is the goal of these vaccines 鈥� to lessen the effects if you do get COVID-19, to prevent the transmission of the virus or both?

While vaccines vary in terms of the way they are made, their ultimate goal is to help us build a defense against the virus. The vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer being administered around the country are mRNA vaccines, which teach our bodies to create a protein that looks like part of the virus. When our immune system comes across this protein in our blood, it initiates our body鈥檚 natural defense system, producing antibodies that will protect us if the real virus ever enters our body. The result: our body knows exactly how to fight COVID-19, meaning we will experience little or no mild/moderate symptoms of the disease, and no severe or life-threatening effects.

As more people become vaccinated, researchers will be able to tell us for sure just how effective the vaccine is for preventing transmission. Initial results are promising, but for now, we don鈥檛 know about the transmission part. In theory, vaccination should lower transmission rate because it reduces the viral load (the amount of virus in the body). As our body builds antibodies in response to vaccination, the virus should not be able to settle in and reproduce as well as it could in an unvaccinated person. The bottom line, vaccines are one tool in our toolkit to slow the transmission of COVID-19. We must continue to wear a mask and social distance into the near future.

How confident are you in the scientific process that was used to develop these COVID-19 vaccines? What gives you confidence in the process?

I think it鈥檚 normal and healthy for people to have a bit of skepticism about the development of the COVID-19 vaccines. Typically, it takes 10-15 years for a vaccine to make it to market, and only about 6 percent of proposed vaccines ever make it. Those are not great odds! However, it is important for people to understand that the technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines did not appear out of thin air.

Since SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the virus that led to the SARS outbreak 20 years ago, scientists had two decades of knowledge about the physiology, genetics, and evolutionary history of this virus to work with. That knowledge, combined with access to the genome of the virus in early 2020, allowed for the speedy development of the vaccine.

Even though the vaccines were produced quickly, scientists and regulators did not cut corners. All of the vaccines that have been approved had to go through the same rigorous phases and trials as any other vaccine. The only difference here is many of the phases were allowed to happen concurrently instead of sequentially in order to ramp up production. With that said, I am very confident that the COVID-19 vaccines out there are well-researched, safe, and effective.

Mistrust of the vaccine is higher among some minority populations, including among Blacks. What are some of the roots of that mistrust, and what efforts have you seen to overcome that mistrust?

It is no secret that there have been significant problems between the Black Americans and the medical community. From the historical mistreatment of Black Americans (like the Tuskegee Syphilis study and the unauthorized use of Henrietta Lacks鈥� cells for cancer research), to the modern-day disparities in health care (like fewer individuals covered by health insurance, higher rates of heart disease, stroke, and female reproductive challenges), it is understandable that the Black community as a whole isn鈥檛 lining up to be a 鈥済uinea pig鈥� for the COVID-19 vaccine. To this I say, I get it. Nothing can erase these facts. However, there is no biological reason that the vaccine will act differently in people of color. Because we are aa much higher risk for contracting COVID-19 and experiencing severe, life-threatening symptoms from the disease, it is crucial that our community get vaccinated.

Beyond just the Black community, I think many people feel hesitancy for two reasons: (1) misunderstanding about the way vaccines work and (2) fear about adverse reactions to the vaccine. To be clear: the COVID-19 vaccines cannot give a person COVID-19. They are safe for anyone who is healthy enough to take the flu vaccine. Unfortunately, rumors about adverse effects from the vaccine have many people believing that the shot will make them ill.

In reality, most people will experience a predictable set of mild symptoms after their second dose (things like headache, soreness, and fatigue). While temporarily inconvenient, these are great signs that the body is doing its job 鈥� building up immunity against COVID-19. These symptoms are mild in most cases, and in all cases, are far easier to deal with than full-blown COVID-19. A very small percentage of people have severe reactions, like anaphylaxis (an allergic reaction). Such a reaction is likely to happen very soon after injection, which is why recipients of the vaccines are required to wait at least 15 minutes before leaving the vaccine facility in order to get quick treatment if necessary.

I鈥檓 encouraged when I see people in my community post open and honest information about their own experiences with the vaccine. It鈥檚 great to hear the facts from the experts, but I think more people will trust the vaccine when they see their family and friends getting vaccinated. As soon as I am eligible, my bare arm will be all over social media!

Much attention has been placed upon variants in the virus that are more easily spread. Does that mean back to the drawing board to develop new vaccines, or is it possible to adapt those now in use?

Not necessarily back the drawing board. Viruses mutate all the time. That鈥檚 why we need a new flu shot every year. Due to the design of the COVID-19 vaccines, the hope is that they are general enough to work against some variations of the virus. Early results suggest that the vaccines currently being distributed work against the new variants, though they may be slightly less effective.

We have to recognize that we are shooting at a moving target, though. Drug companies are already looking into ways to stay in front of this rapidly evolving virus. Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have already shared some of their ideas. One possibility is a 鈥渂ooster鈥� shot, in which people who have already been vaccinated get a follow-up dose 6-12 months later. There are many possibilities out there and drug companies are wasting no time exploring them.

As we learn more about where specific variants are located and how they impact infection and transmission, researchers will continue to tweak the vaccine to maximize its impact. Even if vaccines are slightly less effective, as long as they prevent severe symptoms, hospitalizations, and death from COVID-19, they are doing their job.