It has been no more than 12 months since the onset of the Covid Pandemic. The toll the pandemic has taken on us has been unimaginable. However mankind has never seen a response of this speed against an infection of this magnitude ever. In less than 12 months we have not one, not two but hundreds of vaccines, some in use commercially for the last 3 months and many still in development stages.
The covid vaccination program started as early as in December 2020 in many countries, and many are into their second jab by now. Israel has vaccinated 41% of their population fully, 80% of their high risk groups have been vaccinated and they have seen a drop of severe cases of covid by 90 plus percent. In February they managed to ease restrictions to allow libraries, museums and shops to open to the public.
Despite the drop in cases worldwide since the commencement of vaccination, we still have many people out there in doubt of the vaccines. Now we must remember in all treatments we always talk about benefit vs risk, and here we have a solution to our current problem whereby the benefits outweigh the risk. So let us answer all your questions based on the data available:HOW SAFE IS COVID VACCINE?
- IT IS SAFE. There has been a lot of concern regarding the fact that the Pfizer-BionTech and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines. Some people say they are not vaccines but drugs. Now these vaccines may be a new modality of vaccines, first time ever using mRNA instead of the conventional kind of vaccines known to us, however in terms of covid vaccines these are 2 most studied vaccines with phase 3 studies published in peer review medical journals. They are also the most extensively used vaccines worldwide. They do not alter our DNA as the vaccine particles do not enter our cells. Both have been approved by FDA and the symptoms following the vaccination is no difference from other vaccines like the flu vaccine, ie. pain over the vaccination side, chills, fever, and mild bodyache. Serious adverse effects are only seen in 0.1% of the vaccinated.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html
2. CAN I TAKE THE VACCINE? YES you can take the vaccination if you are above 16 years old with the pfizer-BionTech vaccine and 18 for the Moderna vaccine. You can and you should take the vaccination if you have heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, lung diseases. The higher your risk of getting severe covid and dying from it, the more you need to be vaccinated. If you are 60 and above, take the vaccine as soon as you can. If you are a smoker, take the vaccine when it is available to you. WHO says covid vaccines are safe for pregnant women and breastfeeding moms without risks to their babies. Again pregnant women are of higher risk of getting severe covid compared to nonpregnant women of the same age group.
If you have had covid, you should still be vaccinated.
Speak to your personal doctor for advice if you have a history of severe allergic reaction, for example anaphylaxis shock, bronchospasm or laryngeal oedema. This a contraindication to vaccination. Patients who have had a bone marrow transplant or recent organ transplant should also consult their personal physicians regarding the timing of their vaccination.
3. DO I HAVE TO WEAR MASKS AFTER BEING VACCINATED
YES, you still need to mask up and practice social distancing until at least ¾ of the population have been vaccinated. We have still much to learn from Covid the disease and Covid vaccination as this is a brand new disease unknown previously to mankind. We do not know if you can spread the disease even if you are vaccinated. What we know is your risk of getting severe or moderate disease drops a lot once you are vaccinated. We are still unsure how long the antibodies will last after vaccination.
4. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VACCINES
YES, they are different in many ways but they act to boost your immune response by training our body to produce antibodies against the covid virus. Most vaccines have been found to reduce the incidence of severe covid by 90+ percent. The production of the vaccines cannot meet demand and therefore most times we cannot choose the vaccines we will get, but that is okay it is fine. You will still get the necessary production.
I hope with this write up it will ease your mind and cast away your doubt about the Covid vaccines. I would be pleased to answer any further questions you have. Do send us a message in our facebook https://www.facebook.com/beatingheartsmy or message us at 01123002843.
Stay safe and take care.
Dr Betty Teh
Editor in chief and Founder
Beating Hearts
