The Simplified Facts of Covid-19 Vaccine Recommendations and Testing In Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. - June 22, 2023 - PRLog -- (SAVANNAH, GA) The UN World Health Organization (WHO) (https://www.who.int/about/collaboration/who-office-at-the-united-nations) recently declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency. But this does not mean a return to "life as we knew it" before the pandemic.

Healthy Savannah (https://healthysavannah.org/) and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia (https://www.ymcaofcoastalga.org/) are administrators of a supplemental grant focusing on COVID-19 and flu vaccine access, awareness, and acceptance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/). The purpose of the grant is to broaden initiatives of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant (https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/state-local-programs/reach/index.htm), particularly in Savannah's Black and Hispanic communities.

As recommendations regarding the COVID vaccine continue to evolve, the grant administrators are striving to ensure that the overall messaging remains clear.

The REACH grant also funds a Community Health Advocate program in which individuals receive training to provide vaccine awareness and acceptance information in their own neighborhoods which may be at higher risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19 or flu. More than 50 of these advocates are actively working in their communities and at various events throughout the Savannah area.

WHAT HAS CHANGED WITH THE COVID-19 VACCINE GUIDELINES?

According to WHO, the pandemic has been on a downward trend over the past 12 months, with immunity increasing due to highly effective vaccines developed to fight the disease, But COVID-19 is still claiming a life every three minutes. The global organization also warns that a very real risk remains for new variants to emerge that could spike new surges in cases and deaths.

The new guidelines allow older adults and immunocompromised adults to get a second dose of the updated vaccine. They further recommend that everyone ages 6 years and older receive an updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of whether they previously received the first vaccine series. The guidelines also provide more flexibility for healthcare providers to administer additional doses to immunocompromised patients as needed.

Smalls also cautions that waiting for a talked-about combined COVID and flu vaccine is not a good idea. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) (https://nfid.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/nfid/event.jsp?ev...), vaccines that offer protection against both COVID-19 and influenza with a single shot will likely not be ready in time for this year.

The new, simplified guidelines (https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine) provide instructions for the general population, as well as different instructions for children ages 6 months to 17 years (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html#children) and for the elderly and immunocompromised (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html).

For more information about COVID-19 vaccine availability and testing near you, visit the Georgia Department of Health Coastal Health District at https://covid19.gachd.org/