Moran Praises COVID-19 Vaccines, Offers Public Injection To Boost Confidence

By Noah Taborda, the Kansas Reflector

December 10, 2020

TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran on Thursday pledged his support for COVID-19 vaccines in response to polling that suggests half the country refuses or is reluctant to accept an injection.

Kansas leaders expect to receive 23,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine within the next week, pending Food and Drug Administration approval, which could come as soon as Thursday. An additional batch of doses is expected once the FDA approves the vaccine made by another biotechnology firm, Moderna, with around 150,000 total expected from both companies in December.

While that news may signal a more positive outlook moving forward, initial polling data from Pfizer indicates 20% of the American public is not keen on COVID-19 immunization, and 35% are still on the fence.

Moran said during a news briefing with the University of Kansas Health System that he would do whatever it takes to increase public confidence in the shot, including receiving it in public and on camera.

“I don’t think it’s my job to force people to be vaccinated. In fact, I am quite sure it’s not, but I would say that I would take the vaccine when it’s my time, when my prioritization comes up,” Moran said. “I’m happy to do it publicly and to encourage people to follow suit.”

With the fallout from Thanksgiving right around the corner, health experts are touting the vaccination as necessary to keeping children in school and businesses open. An optimistic outlook suggests vaccines could be available to a wider portion of the population by May.

Moran again promoted the idea of personal responsibility. Just like wearing a mask or social distancing, he said, vaccination is key to returning to some sense of normalcy.

“We have our first grandchildren in our lives. We want to share Thanksgiving and Christmas with them,” Moran said. “There is so much that can be gained by personal responsibility in the vaccination that helps get us back to things that we would call normal.”

Steven Stites, the chief medical officer for the KU Health System, joined Moran in praising the remarkable speed in which the vaccines were developed.

“Operation Warp Speed,” the government-initiated effort to produce a vaccine, has been ongoing for more than six months, far less than the four years it required to produce the SARS-CoV-1 vaccine, Stites said.

“When I saw the FDA’s preliminary review of the Pfizer data saying they met their clinical endpoints successfully, I started to cry,” Stites said. “I can’t tell you how meaningful that is and what a difference it is because it’s the beginning of a new beginning. And without it, we’re going to be stuck with COVID for a very long time.”

Where the initial supply of the vaccine goes is up to each state. In Kansas, officials are abiding by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations in reserving the first round for frontline health care workers directly dealing with the virus.

Next in line is long-term care facility residents and workers.

Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control for KU Health System, said he has been in close contact with Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, about the supply chain and making sure the vaccine is properly distributed. Vaccines will be held in undisclosed distribution centers around the state.

“We want to just make sure that, No. 1, all those distribution places can get the supply of vaccine that they’re supposed to get, and once it gets in that it is safe,” Hawkinson said. “So I think there is a high level of not secrecy but just making sure that we can, once we get the vaccine, be able to distribute it as we need to.”

Moran said he expects additional help to arrive in the form of another pandemic relief bill. He expects the legislation to provide another round of the Paycheck Protection Program but said direct payments to individuals are less certain.

“There is slowly becoming what we would call here legislative text, so actually words on paper instead of just broad categories,” Moran said. “We do not want the business to go out of business and lose their employees. If we lose a business, certainly if we lose a hospital to COVID-19, those businesses often do not come back, so we need to do more in regard to keeping people employed and businesses open.”

The Kansas Reflector seeks to increase people's awareness of how decisions made by elected representatives and other public servants affect our day-to-day lives. We hope to empower and inspire greater participation in democracy throughout Kansas.