COVID-19 Vaccination: What to expect?
Universally everyone has been waiting for this from last year and here the vaccines have arrived. Some of the pharmaceutical companies have rolled out the vaccines and lot of other promising candidates are getting ready to roll out the vaccines in the earliest timeline possible. But apart from the positive aspect this also leaves a space for a lot of side-effects which are being exposed and which we all will be exposed to in the coming days. The goal of this article is to create awareness in people with any underlying medical/health vulnerabilities to consult with the doctors and discuss their health condition/sensitivity before getting vaccinated.
It is important not to be overwhelmed with just the good news and to be absolutely aware of all the unknown factors posing as probable threats that may come with this vaccine with respect to certain medical conditions. There are many uncertainties both over the duration of the protection and the safety of the vaccination which lie ahead of us.
In a race to develop within a very limited time frame, Covid-19 vaccines are one of the most rapidly developed vaccines in the entire medical history as of now. This is the first time in the history for such a new novel infection a vaccine has been developed in such an accelerated speedy manner. There’s absolutely no prior data about the efficacy of this vaccine, so the safety and the unknowns abound are concerning. Though COVID-19 vaccines to a certain extent are going to be effective, but they do come with various side effects, some mild and some extreme serious ones depending on person to person, their age factor and their underlying medical conditions.
Key points
1. Clinical Issues
The obvious clinical issues prevailing in people and how the vaccine may react with existing condition inherent in them is something that the medical experts are studying. The vaccine’s efficacy & safety is currently unknown and this can be best left to clinical/medical experts in the coming times. According to scientist Gagandeep Kang, the vice-chairman of the Board of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) India & member of Lancet Commission says it’s wise not to take the vaccine for sometime now without enough efficacy of data.
2. Time Gap
Since India is considering multiple COVID-19 vaccines, which requires time gap between the two shots, maintaining this schedule would be really challenging. One can gauge the sheer size of the vaccination drive by comparing it with UK, which has plans to to vaccinate just 20 million of it’s population initially. As the world’s leading Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer India may have better access to vaccines than many other parts of the developing world. But yet distributing the vaccines evenly particularly ensuring the second shot is given after the first shot exactly after a gap of 28 days is going to be difficult for India.
3. Comorbidities
The risk factors associated with the vaccine itself is something which should be considered, especially in scenarios where there are underlying health issues. There is very limited evidence in the present scenario for the fact that Covid-19 vaccine is safe for individuals with comorbidities(e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney ailment & rare diseases). None of other vaccines which we have right now are completely free of side-effects. Because they have been around for a long time, these vaccines have proven to be safe over the years with very minimal side-effects. Whereas this is not the case with Covid-19 vaccines.
4. Reactogenic
Mild to severe allergic reactions to the vaccine are possible pertaining to each different Covid-19 vaccines, as this vaccine is more reactogenic. They may happen rarely but they can happen in certain individuals. The FDA recommends that people who have experienced a severe allergic reaction to the first doze of Covid-19 vaccine should receive the second dose only after consultation with their doctors. Accordingly to the director of the International Vaccine Access Center William Moss, recommends people to take opinion of their doctors regarding their medical condition, so they know what to expect prior and after the vaccinations.
5. Safety Factor
Pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, babies, children and youngsters below 18 years of age, old people and people taking immunocompromised medications are not to be given Covid-19 vaccine. Being pregnant could make the side effects of the vaccine feel more strong which is unwarranted for during pregnancy. More importantly there is not enough credible proof and research yet, for the fact that if the Covid-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant or lactating women. To target a vaccine dose for them would require additional evidence and testing to mark it absolutely safe. Same with children, they would need protection through indirect means. This is what is further clouding the judgement about whether it is safe to get vaccinated in these scenarios.
6. Vulnerability
It’s possible for anyone to contract Covid-19 in between the period of vaccine shots. So it is absolutely important to continue wearing a mask, washing your hands and practice social distancing measures. Because as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the first dose will not provide complete protection and after receiving the second dose only one can strive to achieve a full protective level of immunity. But to be on the safer side it’s still recommended to continue practicing the safety measures after the second dose as well till the pandemic is completely under control and until the medical community gets more substantial data as to whether the vaccines are preventing transmission or not.
7. New Strain
The virus that causes Covid-19 has mutated. It’s no surprise that the coronavirus has muted –– that’s what viruses do. Most of the mutations are useless, but in case of Covid-19, the new mutated strains are believed to be more infectious than the original virus. Initial studies have suggested that they are 30 to 70 percent more transmissible. The new variant of the novel coronavirus which was first detected in UK — and now spreading around the world, including United States & South Africa, may be more deadly. The B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 which was first found in September 2020 has been circling around the United Kingdom infecting people is now dominant in the UK. B.1.1.7 lineage has been detected in several locations in the United States. At present there’s no evidence that the variants will affect the efficacy of the vaccines or are going to be more transmissible than the original strain. Given the rapid spread of the two new variants health experts suspect that the new strains contain mutations that make it easier for the virus to bind to human cells.
There is no option in any country as of now to choose which Covid vaccine label one wants to receive. It is at the discretion of the government and the health authorities. The impact of the Covid-19 vaccines depends on several factors such as the effectiveness of the vaccines, their approval, manufacturing, delivering, logistics & availability for all the countries across the globe. While the Covid-19 vaccine is going to play a major role in ending the global pandemic, it won’t eliminate the virus altogether. Only the forthcoming times will tell the efficacy and immunogenicity of the Covid-19 vaccines. For the foreseeable future, everyone should continue to keeping themselves safe and there in keeping others safe too.
