COVID-19 Vaccines and All of Your Moderna Questions Answered

There are several unknowns with COVID-19, but one thing that is certain is that information is constantly changing. Recommendations are continually being revised and updated and it can be really challenging to keep up with it all!

At Prime Care Pharmacy, our pharmacists strive to be a trusted resource for you. We are here to answer your questions, listen to your concerns, and help you make an informed decision.  

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Public Health has an excellent “Answers to COVID-19 Vaccine Questions” page on their website. You can find information about vaccine eligibility, where you can get vaccinated, how to prepare for vaccination, and more on this page. 

As of May 17th, over 50% of WDG Region residents have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine. This is a huge milestone for the region, but we still have work to do to reach our target of 75% of our population receiving at least one dose. You can follow along here to see the most up to date information for status of vaccinations in WDG. 

In order to help reach this target, we are very excited to announce that Prime Care Pharmacy will be offering COVID vaccinations! We are expecting our Moderna vaccine shipment to arrive in the next week. We have a vaccine waitlist which you can register for via primecarepharmacy.medmeapp.ca/schedule.  We will send out updates on vaccine availability, eligible groups, and other important information if you register. Although joining our wait list does not guarantee you will get a vaccine and higher-risk individuals will be prioritized, we will do our best to get everyone who is interested vaccinated. 

The Moderna vaccine is approved to prevent COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in individuals 18 years and older. 

The Moderna vaccine is a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine. The vaccine works by giving your body instructions on how to make a protein for the virus. Once our cells receive the instructions of how to make the protein, they destroy the instructions. Our body and immune system recognizes that the protein doesn’t belong and it starts to build antibodies. Once we have the antibodies developed, they are available to help us fight the infection if the real virus enters our system in the future. 

The vaccine is given into the upper arm muscle called the deltoid. Two doses of the vaccine are required for full protection. The doses are given at a minimum of 1 month apart but we are currently administering the doses 4 months apart in order to vaccinate as many people as possible with a first dose.

The Moderna vaccine is extremely effective at protecting against severe disease and hospitalization. In clinical trials, the Moderna vaccine was 100% effective at protecting from severe disease 14 days after receiving dose two. 

Individuals who receive one dose of the Moderna vaccine may not be optimally protected from COVID-19. After receiving a dose, it is still very important to follow current public health recommendations such as masking, physical distancing, and hand hygiene.

You should not get the Moderna vaccine if you have had a previous allergic reaction to polyethylene glycol or thomethamine in the past. Polyethylene glycol on it’s own is a common laxative (Restoralax, Lax-a-Day, ClearLax) and is also an ingredient in many foods and medications. Tromethamine is a common ingredient in other medications, like the anti-inflammatory Ketorolac and the antibiotic Fosfomycin. Check with the pharmacist if you have questions about either of these ingredients.

You are advised to wait to receive the Moderna vaccine if you have had another vaccine within 14 days.

Expected side effects seen with the Moderna vaccine are usually mild and do not pose a risk to health. The most commonly reported side effects after vaccination are pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills, fever and swollen glands. These side effects typically resolve after a couple days and tend to happen more often after the second dose.

Please let us know if you have any questions that are not addressed here. We are very excited to be giving the Moderna vaccine and hope to see you in the pharmacy soon!

Beth Kaufman BSc, BScPh, RPh, CDE, BCGP

Mikaela Klie BSc, PharmD, RPh

References: 
https://tools.cep.health/tool/covid-19-vaccines/#msideeffects
https://twitter.com/WDGPublicHealth/status/1394359578389843969
https://tools.cep.health/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Moderna-Pt-medication-information.pdf?utm_source=link.cep.health&utm_medium=urlshortener&utm_campaign=covid-vaccine