DOVER — Members of Dover’s City Council were finally able to have some questions answered and valuable knowledge gained during a delayed COVID-19 vaccine presentation for a special Safety Advisory and Transportation Committee meeting on Monday night.

Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long; Dr. Richard Pescatore, chief physician for the Delaware Division of Public Health; and Lisa Henry, director of community health services for DPH, squeezed a lot of information about the safety of getting vaccinated and other questions from Dover city councilmen into a virtual 45-minute session prior to their scheduled city council meeting.

The previously scheduled COVID-19 informational session was to take place at a Council of the Whole meeting on Jan. 26, however, due to a cramped and long-lasting agenda, the DPH participants were forced to leave the meeting before the council got around to them.

“First things first, please forgive us for our bad manners,” Dover City Councilman Ralph Taylor Jr. said. “All of us here want to know what you know (about the COVID vaccine), so please don’t hold back.”

Dr. Pescatore was the main speaker for much of the presentation, going over things such as the makeup of the vaccines that are currently offered by Moderna and Pfizer — with another by Johnson & Johnson expected to receive approval soon — as well as potential side effects, the availability of the vaccines and other questions offered by councilmen.

“I’m more than happy to speak towards the safety and efficacy of the vaccine,” Dr. Pescatore said. “We hear so much from the community about questions, concerns and miscommunications surrounding the vaccine, and I’m certainly here to answer any questions that may exist.

“One thing we know is that the COVID-19 vaccine was developed quickly and was developed safely using technology that’s been in development for the past 10 years, ever since the first SARS 1 epidemic, and it utilizes a number of proprietary and cutting-edge technologies that allows us to bring this safe and efficacious vaccine to the public.”

He assured those tuned in to the virtual meeting that there have been no deaths directly resulting from an individual receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. There have been sore arms, fevers and nausea, usually after somebody receives their second of the two shots.

“We’re striving to ensure that the vaccine finds its way into the arms of as many Delawareans as possible, while doing so quickly but safely, and doing so in a way that is representative of the racial and ethnic makeup of our state,” said Dr. Pescatore.

There have been concerns from a skeptical Black community regarding the COVID-19 vaccination, but the doctors said there is nothing to be worried about when it comes to receiving the shots.

There are also potential issues about supplies of the vaccine. There have been 126,615 doses administered in Delaware out of an available 138,600 doses, leaving 11,985 does remaining.

There are also issues of disparities of people who have received the shots, so far, as White individuals have received 47,691 (39% of the total) vaccinations, followed by multiple races at 35,239 (28%). Of the Black community, only 5,601 (4%) individuals and only 2,605 Latinos (2%) have received the COVID-19 shots.

A total of 34,194 (27% of the total) people who have received COVID vaccinations are of unknown race.

Lt. Gov. Hall-Long complimented members of Dover City Council for their leadership and helping to better inform the public of pandemic issues.

“Thank you to the city, the president (Bill Hare) and all the councilmen,” said Lt. Gov. Hall-Long. “It is about intergovernmental partnerships and leadership at the city of Dover that played at all levels throughout the pandemic.

“Vaccinations are the most important (thing), but in the meantime until we get people vaccinated, as businesses open or schools go back into session or we’re having council meetings again in person, it’s going to be so important that we do the vaccine and we continue to do those behaviors (social distance, wear facemasks, wash hands regularly). The vaccination is not a treatment, it is a preventative measure. We need to get the herd immunity.”

Among some of the other answers to questions offered by councilmen were no, the COVID-19 virus is not a part of the vaccine, and those under the age of 18 don’t have to receive the vaccinations currently due to the strength of their immune systems.

Dr. Pescatore said it is not known if individuals will have to get yearly booster shots, like they do with flu shots.

“The answer to that is we simply don’t know,” he said. “We don’t have enough data, we haven’t been doing this long enough to know if there’s going to be a seasonality to the coronavirus like there is the flu, in the setting of our current vaccine effort.

“I think there are a lot of people who are optimistic that this will be a one-time administration of a vaccine and (future) booster shots may not be needed.”

Councilman Taylor was relieved the council finally received the information regarding the COVID vaccinations that they can now share with their constituents.

“We all recognize visibility equals credibility, and the fact that you guys (the panelists) are getting out there and allowing our citizens to see and hear you … it has been a joy to have all you with us.”