Jamaica Hospital announces opening of Post-
COVID Care Center
Photos courtesy of Jamaica Hospital
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | OCT. 2-OCT. 8, 2020 17
BY BY CARL O’DONNELL AND
MICHAEL ERMAN
REUTERS
U.S. President Donald
Trump and the head of the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) this
week disagreed about when a
COVID-19 vaccine would become
widely available. Trump
has said one could initially be
available by the Nov. 3 election,
while the CDC director said
vaccines were likely to reach
the general public around mid-
2021, an assessment more in
line with most experts.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN
FOR A VACCINE
TO GENERALLY
AVAILABLE?
General availability is when
every American who wants the
vaccine can get it. There are
currently no COVID-19 vaccines
approved by U.S. regulators,
although a handful are in
late-stage trials to prove they
are safe and effective.
Experts estimate that at
least 70% of roughly 330 million
Americans would need to be
immune through a vaccine or
prior infection to achieve what
is known as herd immunity,
which occurs when enough
people are immune to prevent
the spread of the virus to those
unable to get a vaccine.
HOW LONG BEFORE
VACCINE PRODUCTION
IS FULLY RAMPED UP?
Most vaccines in development
will require two doses
per person.
The CDC anticipates that
35 million to 45 million doses
of vaccines from the first two
companies to receive authorization
will be available in the
United States by the end of this
year. The current front runners
are Pfizer Inc and Moderna
Inc.
Drugmakers have been
more ambitious with their calculations.
AstraZeneca Plc has
said it could deliver as many as
300 million doses of its experimental
vaccine in the United
States by as early as October.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech
SE have said they expect
to have 100 million doses
available worldwide by the end
of 2020, but did not specify how
much of that was earmarked
for the United States. Moderna
on Friday said it is on track to
make around 20 million doses
by the end of the year and between
500 million and 1 billion
doses a year beginning in 2021.
Obtaining enough doses to
inoculate everyone in the United
States will likely take until
later in 2021. CDC Director
Robert Redfield told a congressional
hearing on Wednesday
that vaccines may not be widely
available to everyone in the
United States until the second
or third quarter of next year.
WHO WOULD GET AN
APPROVED VACCINE
FIRST?
The CDC decision will likely
broadly follow recommendations
from the National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering
and Medicine. L1N2FY1CX
The CDC has said the earliest
inoculations may go to healthcare
workers, people at increased
risk for severe COVID-
19, and essential workers.
It is unclear when a vaccine
will be available for children as
major drugmakers have yet to
include them in late-stage trials.
Pfizer and BioNTech have
filed with regulators seeking
to start recruiting volunteers
as young as 16 for vaccine
studies.
WHICH COMPANIES
WILL LIKELY ROLL OUT
A VACCINE QUICKLY?
Pfizer has said it could have
compelling evidence that its
vaccine works by the end of
October. Moderna says it could
have similar evidence in November.
The vaccines would
first need to be approved or authorized
for emergency use by
U.S. regulators.
Drugmakers have already
started manufacturing supplies
of their vaccine candidates
to be ready as soon as
they get the go ahead. The U.S.
Department of Defense and the
CDC plan to start distribution
of vaccines within 24 hours of
regulatory authorization.
Several drugmakers including
Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson
& Johnson and Novavax
Inc have all said they expect to
produce at least 1 billion doses
of their vaccines next year if
they get regulatory authorization.
Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmith-
Kline Plc are also working on
developing a vaccine they say
could be authorized next year.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The MediSys Health Network
is opening a Post-COVID
Care Center on Thursday, Sept.
24, in Hollis Tudor, where patients
— referred to as “long
haulers” — as well as others
experiencing long-term effects
of the coronavirus can receive
specialized care from a multidisciplinary
group of qualified
physicians.
The MediSys Health Network
comprises Jamaica and
Flushing Hospital Medical
Center, the Trump Pavilion for
Nursing and Rehabilitation,
and a network of communitybased
MediSys ambulatory
care centers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic,
the MediSys Hollis Tudor
clinic, located at 200-16 Ave. in St.
Alban’s, served as a specialized
acute illness site where doctors
doctors saw patients who had
COVID symptoms, according to
Dr. Alan Roth, chairman of Ambulatory
Care and Family Medicine
at Jamaica Hospital.
Amid the early stages of
the pandemic, most health authorities
were operating under
the belief that the virus, while
extremely dangerous for some,
was a short-term illness. Most
young, healthy individuals
who tested positive for the virus
were told to expect to sustain
a variety of symptoms that
could last anywhere from two
to six weeks.
However, doctors are now
seeing a growing number of patients
who are enduring lingering
symptoms for an extended
period of time.
“People have a vast array of
symptoms — some of them are
very generalized like fatigue,
body pain and others became
more specific such as loss of
smell or taste, cough, shortness
of breath, and then we’re seeing
neurological changes like
decrease of concentration, stability
to think through things,
especially in naming things,”
said Roth, who also became
sick with the virus.
According to Roth, other patients,
or “long haulers,” may
also experience mental health
issues such as anxiety, depression,
lack of motivation and
sleeping problems.
Some of the most common
lingering symptoms include
fatigue, muscle and body pain,
shortness of breath, dizziness
and headaches.
For Dr. Marwa Eldik, a resident
and patient who contracted
the virus at the end of March,
some of those symptoms that
have continued include shortness
of breath, fatigue, and loss
of taste and smell, she said.
Eldik was quarantined for
two weeks and returned to
work a week before the peak of
the pandemic.
“I had a very strong support
in getting through a lot of
the emotional things that are
attached to still having these
symptoms,” Eldik said. “I think
the post-COVID clinic is such a
great resource for people who do
have long haulers syndrome to
be able to have access to teams
that dedicate their time and
resources to making sure that
all of these issues — whether
it be mental health or physical
symptoms get addressed.”
For patients who are not
reaching out and accessing
care, according to Roth, it may
be a result of other people’s responses
stating that they may
just be depressed, are working
extensive hours or it may not be
related to COVID at all.
The MediSys Health Network’s
post-COVID care center
will provide patients with personalized,
comprehensive care,
coordinated by a primary care
physician, who will work with
other on-site specialists that includes
pulmonologists, neurologists
and psychiatrists — all
dedicated to helping patients
better their condition.
To schedule an appointment
at the Post-COVID Care Center,
call 718-736-8204.
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4526.
When will COVID-19 vaccines
be generally available in U.S.?
/QNS.COM
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