Posts tagged: developmental disabilities

To all Support, Inc. staff, providers, and families;

As the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed our lives over the last 9 months, there has been a lot of talk, questions and hopes for a COVID-19 vaccination. An FDA (Food and Drug Administration) advisory committee met on Thursday December 10^th to review the Pfizer vaccine. The committee resulted in a 77% “yes” vote that based on the totality of evidence, the benefit of the Pfizer vaccine outweighs the risk for use in individuals age 16 and older. This was the last step in the process for Pfizer before the FDA approves emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine. Over the weekend, the FDA accepted the committee’s recommendation and approved the vaccine under the Emergency Use Authorization. His is a pivotal moment in the pandemic as the first vaccine being approved for use in the United States. While we do not have all the answers, we wanted to provide some information on what we do know at this point.

Q: What is an Emergency Use Authorization?

A: An EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) is a way to facilitate the availability and use of things like vaccines during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Under EUA the FDA may allow an unapproved medical product to prevent serious life-threatening diseases or conditions. Manufacturers submit an EUA request to the FDA to be evaluated and to determine if statutory criteria are met. You can read more about Emergency use Authorizations here.

Q: When can I get the vaccine?

A: This week, Colorado released a 3 phased roll out plan for the vaccine. Below is a description and timeline for each phase.

Q: Where can I get the vaccine?

A: Once a vaccine has been approved for use by the FDA, Phase 1 recipients will receive the vaccine through their employer (such as hospitals), local health agencies or through the Federal Government’s pharmacy partnership for long term care programs. The Pfizer vaccine requires ulta low temperature storage (-60 to -80 Celsius). Colorado has identified 24 locations with the ability to store the vaccine at this temperature and has purchased an additional 10 ulta low temperature freezers. The state will release information for phase 2 and phase 3 vaccination locations in the future.

Q: Will there only be one vaccine option?

A: At this time, the Pfizer vaccine has been approved.  Moderna has also applied to the FDA for authorization through the Emergency use Authorization. There are 3 additional companies working on clinical trials for a vaccination. It is likely individual states and counties will get different vaccines based on manufacturing and distribution from each company.

News of a vaccine is encouraging. At the moment constituents of Support, Inc. may be eligible to receive the vaccine during Phase 2.  This may change and as we learn more information, we will send additional updates. While we all anticipate the vaccine, it continues to be important we all take steps to keep ourselves, our families and individual we support safe. This includes, wearing a face covering/ mask when we are in public, washing hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer frequently, minimizing contact with people we don’t live with and when we do have to have contact with people who don’t live in our home, staying 6 feet apart.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Laura at Laura.Viers@supportinc.com

Good morning,

As the United States experiences an increase in COVID-19, Colorado is also hitting a pivotal moment in this pandemic. Colorado is seeing an alarming increase in the positivity rate of COVID-19 to a level we haven’t seen since earlier this year. Colorado is at a daily positivity rate of 9.76% and weekly average of 8.10% which shows declining transmission control across the State. Health Experts including the CDC have indicated at a 5% positivity rate, States and Counties are doing a good job of controlling the spread of the virus. The continued rise of COVID-19 has prompted CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) to update the statewide health order. The update asks for people to “shrink their bubble” by limiting personal gatherings to no more than 10 individuals from no more than 2 separate households. While many counties around the state are already moving to more restrictive measures, Colorado has the chance now to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to avoid further restrictions. You can follow this link to see what level your county is in.

It’s imperative we all do our part to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. You can do this by limiting your contact with the people you don’t live with and utilizing the attached activity risk scale to make informed decisions prior to engaging in activities. When you are around others that don’t live with you, wear a mask/ face covering, stay 6 feet apart and don’t gather in groups of more than 10 and from 2 households.

We at Support, Inc. are limiting our non-essential activities during this time. This includes limiting our use of the offices to only necessary trips. We are also limiting our in-person visits and utilizing virtual tools whenever possible. Our day program and DSP services will continue to run as normal at this time. Please continue to stay in touch with your team should you or anyone in your home become exposed to or exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. We can all protect ourselves and the individuals we support to reduce the spread of the virus by following these infection control practices.

COVID-19 symptoms may appear in as little as 2 days but may not appear for 14 days after being exposed. If you have been exposed, you may not yet be displaying symptoms and may never display symptoms (asymptomatic). This poses the risk of spreading the virus to others before you become symptomatic or are aware you have been infected. Protect yourself and others by following the infection control steps above and monitor yourself and the individuals in your home for symptoms of COVID-19.

– Fever and chills

– Cough

– Shortness of breath or difficulty berating

– Fatigue

– Muscle or body aches

– Headache

– New loss of taste or smell

– Sore throat

– Congestion or runny nose

– Nausea or vomiting

– Diarrhea

Many of these symptoms are the same symptoms as the Flu. For the best protection from the Flu it’s best to get a flu shot by the end of October. There are many options to get your flu shot this year including local pharmacies, grocery stores or at your primary care physician’s office. If you or the individual you support need assistance finding a location to get the flu shot, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your RPC. 

As Colorado reaches this pivotal point in the pandemic, we can all do our part to keep ourselves and the individual’s we support safe and healthy and slow the spread of COVID-19. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me anytime. We also have a few infographics to share, to help guide the decision making process for the next several weeks.

-Laura Viers

Laura.Viers@supportinc.com