Jessica Dietz, a contact tracer with SNHD, sits in observation after receiving her second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Monday Feb. 1, 2021.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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As local health officials are reminding us, halfway isn’t far enough when it comes to coronavirus vaccination. Although the single-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson-owned Janssen is becoming available, it takes two injections of versions currently available to Las Vegas Valley residents for those pharmaceuticals to become fully effective.
With some 300,000 valley residents having received their first shots of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, officials are urging those individuals to stay the course and come back for Round 2.
It’s a critically important message for all Las Vegans, not just those who have gotten their first dose.
As reported Monday by the Sun’s Hillary Davis, clinical trials have shown that the vaccinations are more than 94% effective at preventing disease after the second shot. By contrast, getting only one dose affords some protection, but it’s weaker and no one knows how long it will last.
Thus, UNLV epidemiologist Brian Labus told Davis that the risk of contracting the disease would be higher for partially vaccinated individuals than those who have received both shots. And for the community at large, that could mean a longer road toward bringing the virus under control.
Unfortunately, some people report that the second shot made them feel ill for a day, which may make people more wary about receiving it.
But Labus and other health officials say those side effects are nothing to be alarmed about. In fact, they’re indicators that the body is responding exactly as it should, by building an immune response to the disease.
The bottom line is that reactions like these aren’t serious health problems, and the discomfort is far outweighed by the protective benefits of receiving both shots — for the individuals receiving them, for their families and co-workers, and for the entire community.
So to those residents who have received their first shots, know that your neighbors will appreciate you for following up with the second.
To book a second-dose appointment, visit bit.ly/3ebCVIf.
