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Workers and residents at nursing homes have raised concerns as the BioNTech and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines start to roll out in the United States.

Some residents and workers have expressed skepticism of getting vaccinated — the side effects are among their top concerns.

According to the Associated Press, individuals living and working in nursing homes question if adequate testing was conducted on older people, if enough is known about side effects and if the shots could do more harm than good.

“You go get that first and let me know how you feel,” said Denise Schwartz, whose 84-year-old mother lives at an assisted living facility in East Northport, N.Y., and plans to decline the vaccine. “Obviously it would be horrible for her to get COVID, but is it totally safe for someone who’s elderly and in fragile health?”

States across the country have begun receiving doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it on Friday for emergency use.

The first doses of the vaccine are for medical frontline health care workers and long-term care residents and are set to pour into all designated vaccination centers, pharmacies, and healthcare facilities within three weeks.

FDA assures the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe & effective

The report added that the doubts on the vaccine’s efficacy continue to persist in nursing homes, which are at times fueled by divisive politics and misinformation.

“Folks are concerned about it, that it was rushed through by people who were not listening to the science,” said Denise Allegretti, a director at 1999 SEIU, the country’s biggest healthcare worker union.

The Los Angeles Times reported that about 30 percent of staffers and 20 percent of residents in nursing homes were not vaccinated for the flu last year. This could be the reason for the resistance to vaccines in many facilities.

Apart from overcoming vaccine skepticism, the country faces the huge logistical challenge of distributing and administrating the vaccine to about 330 million people.

The FDA said the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and more than 90 percent effective for recipients of various ages, including senior citizens and individuals with health problems. Pfizer tested the vaccine on 44,000 people who participated in its ongoing clinical trials.

The BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has complex distribution/shipping requirements as it needs to be stored at an extremely cold temperature, -90 degrees Fahrenheit.  The vaccine will be shipped in special boxes of 1,000 to 5,000 doses and are stuffed with dry ice. Pfizer will use GPS-enabled sensors to track each shipment and ensure it stays cold.

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