CU Anschutz In The News

Even before any vaccine is available, some people are trying to boost their chances of access, said Dr. Allison Kempe, an expert in vaccine dissemination who is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "People have called me and said, 'How can I get the vaccine?'" she said. "I think that not everyone will be happy to wait, that's for sure. I don't think there will be rioting in the streets, but there may be pressure brought to bear."

Josh Williams, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, did several listening sessions in 2019 and early 2020 with faith communities in Colorado to hear their attitudes about vaccines. He found the vast majority of people he spoke with didn’t have theological concerns about vaccines. Instead, they voiced the same concerns as the general population over whether vaccines are safe and effective. This suggests faith leaders can play a role in reassuring the public they are safe.

Still, Dr. Glen Mays, a professor of health policy at the Colorado School of Public Health, says this strategy could work for Pitkin County. “It’s got a sound logic behind it because the main goal is to help people who may have the virus,” Mays said.

“We created this monster to some extent,” said Dr. Matthew Wynia, the director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He is firmly in the public health camp. But he said some of the ethical discussions surrounding vaccine allocation priorities focused on reciprocity.

This op-ed was written by the Risk & Social Policy Working Group, an interdisciplinary team of scholars formed to study risk messaging and public policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Katie Dickinson, Colorado School of Public Health, and Courtney Welton-Mitchell, Colorado School of Public Health.

Dr. Thomas Campbell, infectious disease physician for the CU School of Medicine: "Two health care workers who received the Pfizer COVID vaccine had severe allergic reactions ... Both of the individuals who had this reaction to the Pfizer vaccine had a past history of severe allergic reactions. In the UK, the medical authorities are advising people who have that type of past history, not to receive the vaccine."

Medical professionals like Emily Cheshire, a family nurse practitioner and a University of Colorado College of Nursing assistant professor, said they’re fielding a lot of questions from patients wanting to know more about the safety of the vaccine. “I get questions around the safety because it came out so quickly,” Cheshire said. “I would say a wide variety [of questions], and I think they’re all very valid.”

“In terms of rolling it out to larger populations of children, we’re several months away from that,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado and professor of pediatrics at CU Anschutz.