COVID-19 Vaccine Primary Care Committee endorses safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines

The COVID-19 Vaccine Primary Care Committee for Public Health Sudbury & Districts is planning for the imminent arrival of vaccine in our area and wants to ensure residents are aware of the safety and efficacy of approved vaccines.

The two vaccines currently approved for use in Canada, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are trusted by physicians and other health professionals across the country.

“It is important to recognize every component of the traditional vaccine approval process was followed during Health Canada’s review of the COVID-19 vaccines. The guidelines for safety and efficacy are strict, and safety testing steps were not skipped,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the Committee’s Co-Chair and Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ Medical Officer of Health.

“Once it is available to them, getting a COVID-19 vaccination will be one of the most important and effective things Ontarians can do to stop the pandemic,” said Dr. Killian de Blacam, the Committee’s Co-Chair. “Getting the COVID-19 vaccine will help to protect you, your family, and your community.”

The Vaccine Primary Care Committee is established under Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ COVID-19 Vaccination Program Playbook. The Committee’s 33 members include primary care practitioners from across Greater Sudbury and the districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin. The role of the Committee is to ensure coordinated primary care engagement in the complex vaccine rollout across the service area.

Public Health, local physicians, and other health care professionals are committed to providing up to date and credible information to the patients and clients they serve.

To address some of the most common concerns related to the vaccine, it is important to know:

• The side effects of the approved COVID-19 vaccines are very similar to other vaccines. They are usually mild to moderate. Side effects can include pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, fever and chills. Side effects can be a sign that the body is working to develop immunity. They usually resolve within a day or two.
• The vaccine can reduce the chance of getting COVID-19 and if contracted, it can make symptoms milder. By keeping symptoms mild, the health care system will be less overwhelmed.
• The vaccine does not contain a microchip or other device for tracking or monitoring purposes.
• The COVID-19 vaccines use mRNA technology. This means that they create proteins that look like the virus, so the body can recognize and destroy the virus if it is encountered in the future. The proteins created by the vaccine are harmless on their own. It is not possible for the vaccine to alter DNA.
• The COVID-19 vaccine cannot cause a COVID-19 infection.
• Based on the trials, the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines respectively offer 95% and 94.1% protection from the disease.

If you have specific questions about whether the COVID-19 vaccine is right for you, please contact your primary care provider.

For more information on COVID-19 vaccines, please visit our website at phsd.ca or call Public Health Sudbury & Districts at 705.522.9200 (toll-free 1.866.522.9200).