HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — There has been talk of vaccine supply and complications making appointments to get one. At the Huntsville COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, there was also talk of scams and strains.
Officials also spoke again about complications when it comes to getting an appointment for a vaccine, but Pam Hudson, CEO of Crestwood Medical Center, has some advice when it comes to trying to schedule one.
"We know folks have registered at multiple sites, go for it, and wherever you get the first vaccine, that's great. Would you please be so kind as to alert the other places you've signed up so that we don't hold the spot," said Hudson.
There's another issue to look out for when it comes to vaccines - scams.
"One of the areas of concern that we've all had is in essence, scams. Both COVID, always and has in many instances, offered opportunity to those who aren't on the up and up, to take advantage of folks. In addition to that, we're getting ready to come into tax season and now all of the sudden you start that, you start with emails that they can send or phishing based on 'hey, we're following up on an appointment you made' and there's just a lot of opportunity for someone to take advantage of you or our community," said Madison Mayor Paul Finley.
There has been recent news of the virus mutating but that is normal for every type of virus, not just COVID-19.
"A virus's first job is to stay alive, infect people and replicate, that's what the influenza virus does every year. You can't get last year's flu vaccine and give it this year and expect the level of protection, so we would absolutely expect that there will be variants of the COVID virus," said Hudson.
Research is still underway, but there have been studies that sound promising when it comes to the vaccine still protecting people even after the arrival of new strains.
"There is some early evidence that is reassuring, that these mutations have not changed the fundamental nature of the virus," said Hudson.