Several Ann Arbor entities are now administering COVID-19 vaccines, including Michigan Medicine, the Ann Arbor VA hospital, and the Washtenaw County Health Department. But as more vaccines become available in our community, not everyone is feeling comfortable that it is something they will want to get. WEMU's Lisa Barry talks with Michigan Medicine scientist and researcher in the division of infectious diseases Dr. Jonathan Golob about the rumored vaccine side effects and how this vaccine was able to be so quickly created and approved.
Dr. Jonathan Golob says he feels extremely confident about the vaccine adding it is extraordinarily unlikely there would be any serious side effects. He says extensive research has been done on thousands of volunteers in trials and there have been no serious side effects reported.
He says because it is a “newer” type of vaccine, it could be developed more quickly. He says one of the advantages of this style of vaccine is that it can be created very quickly vs. older styles of vaccines that take longer to make.
Dr. Golob says the new COVID-19 vaccines aren't just "good vaccines but are exemplary vaccines. So. compared to a flu shot. which is a good vaccine but doesn't really provide 100 percent or even 95 percent protection. these vaccines are really impressive."
He also says thousands of people volunteered to be part of the vaccine trials, giving vaccine developers more data showing how well the vaccine works.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
