TOLEDO, Ohio — St. Vincent Medical Center's Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Tita was one of the first in northwest Ohio to get a shot after the facility received its first doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday.
“I can tell you from experience, the only reaction I've experienced, and some of the other people that got the vaccine, is some soreness in the arm where we got the vaccine,” Tita said.
Part of the vaccine process includes a mandatory follow up with the FDA. People are expected to report any symptoms they are having following the shot through a text message system.
“Part of getting the vaccine, there is a phone link, and every day the FDA asks us to report any symptoms we're having," Tita said.
While it may be a few months before the vaccine is available to the general public, health departments are being briefed on how they will initially monitor those who get the shot.
“The procedure right now is, you get your vaccine and you're going to wait 15 minutes, maybe a little longer. Because any reaction is probably going to happen with that 15 minutes," Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner Dr. Eric Zgodzinski said.
According to Mercy Health, so far, no one who has received the vaccine locally has had a serious adverse reaction.