In This Section
SNMMI COVID-19 Task Force Vaccination Recommendation
February 28, 2022
Over the past 2 years, the SNMMI COVID-19 Task Force has met bi-weekly to monitor, support, educate, and provide guidance to the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging community. As a professional society representing more than 16,000 nuclear medicine professionals, it is SNMMI’s responsibility to ensure the health and safety of our patients and our members by distributing recommendations for mitigating the risk of COVID-19 transmission in clinical practice.
The task force has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 vaccination program and its ability to protect us against the serious effects of the COVID-19 virus and lower the risks of transmitting COVID-19 to family, friends, coworkers, and patients. We understand that there are some individuals who are not able to receive the vaccine for medical reasons. Additionally, children under the age of 5 are currently not eligible to receive the vaccine.
To ensure the health and safety of these individuals, our patients, and our professional workforce, at this time and as recommended by public health officials, the SNMMI COVID-19 Task Force strongly urges all eligible SNMMI members and healthcare professionals to be vaccinated and receive a booster (at least 5 months after completing your primary COVID-19 vaccination series).
For those who may have reservations or concerns regarding the efficacy and/or safety of the vaccine, we encourage you to review several articles published by the SNMMI Technologist Section—“Facing the Issues: COVID Vaccination” and “What was Your Experience with the COVID Vaccination?”—which provide an overview of the available vaccines as well as first-hand accounts of vaccination experiences from other SNMMI members around the world. In addition, several other important references are included below.
References
- CDC: Ensuring COVID-19 Vaccines Work. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness.html May 20, 2021. Accessed June 15, 2021.
- CDC: COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Research. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/effectiveness-research/protocols.html February 18, 2021. Accessed June 15, 2021.
- Pilishvili T, Fleming-Dutra KE, Farrar JL, et al. Interim Estimates of Vaccine Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Among Health Care Personnel — 33 U.S. Sites, January–March 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:753–758. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7020e2.htm
- Thompson MG, Burgess JL, Naleway AL, et al. Interim Estimates of Vaccine Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Personnel, First Responders, and Other Essential and Frontline Workers — Eight U.S. Locations, December 2020–March 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:495–500. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm
- Britton A, Jacobs Slifka KM, Edens C, et al. Effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Among Residents of Two Skilled Nursing Facilities Experiencing COVID-19 Outbreaks — Connecticut, December 2020–February 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:396–401. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7011e3.htm