DNA Special: COVID-19 vaccine’s benefits outweigh its side-effects

India-made Covishield vaccine will get approval for emergency anytime now. In a few days this vaccine will be available to the people as well although the people are already scared about the side-effects of this vaccine. Today we will try to disperse off this fear.

Let us explain the meaning of ‘emergency use’ to you. It is responsibility of the government to provide you the correct and safe medicine. The safety of the drugs in this country is assured by Drug Controller General and for this purpose the drugs are checked, human trials reports are checked and only after they are fully satisfied by the results, the drug is finally provided to the public for use.

The creation of a safe vaccine is a long process and it can sometimes take over 8 to 10 years. Before the completion of Vaccine trials if the drug’s usage is approved, then it is known as 'Emergency Use Authorisation’.

Coronavirus is a disease which is about a year old. To get a COVID-19 vaccine ready, the time has been really short. The testing and trials of this vaccine are still going on but COVID-19 is a very infectious and deadly disease and now a new strain has also come up. That’s why in order to stop coronavirus, the ‘Emergency Use’ authorization has been provided for this vaccine.

Emergency use is only allowed when due to a pandemic the number of deaths and infected cases is very large. That’s why the benefits of having a vaccine outweigh its dangers.

It means that vaccine has been tested and even during time of production, the testing will be going on and there is no need to be scared of this vaccine. This vaccine is safe but how effective it will be, that figure might keep on changing.

Right now, the two-dose Covishield is supposed to have about 69% efficacy but this is only efficacy not effectiveness. Efficacy means during the trial this vaccine was able to cure about 7 people out of 10 but in real life how many people it will be able to cure will show its effectiveness.

Usually people who take part in the trial are healthy and they don’t suffer from any diseases beforehand. But when this vaccine is offered to crores of people in India, then only its effectiveness will be fully visible.

The good thing is that about 5 persons out of 10 want to get a shot of this vaccine and they are waiting for their chance to come. In a survey, about four persons out of 10 are suspicious about the vaccine and they would like to take a shot of this vaccine only after they have full knowledge about it.

Those people who don’t trust the vaccine at all don’t want to get the shot of this vaccine because they don’t trust this vaccine at all. Out of every 10 persons, one is there who doesn’t want to get a shot of this vaccine at all.

Every vaccine has side-effects

Let us try and clear some doubts about this vaccine. A child immediately after birth is usually administered the BCG vaccine and this vaccine protects the child from dangerous diseases like TB in the future.

The BCG vaccine also has side-effects – wherever this vaccine is administered on the body, it leaves a mark for the entire life. Sometime it can also lead of ulcer for small time where the BCG vaccine is administered. But this vaccine is so effective that we can ignore the small side-effects. In medical terms, it is known as ‘supervised neglect’.

Doctors always advise that children might suffer from minor fever for 24 to 48 hours after vaccine because in spite of a small side-effect, the vaccine gives protection for a long time.

We have to use this formula for COVID-19 vaccine as well.

Let’s answer three important questions about the coronavirus vaccine. First question: How safe is this vaccine? Before giving approval to the vaccine, it has been tested on thousands of people. Whether in India or abroad, vaccine is only give approval when it is completely safe.

Till now over 30 lakh people have been administered different COVID-19 vaccines and very few people among them have suffered any side-effects.

In India, after the COVID-19 vaccination, the person will be observed for 30 minutes and if someone has any side-effects they will be treated immediately.

Second question: People want to know if they will be immune to COVID-19 after the first dose? The answer to this is NO. One needs to take two doses of this vaccine with the second dose being take 14 days after the first. Even after getting the first dose, you have to use Face Mask, Social distancing and hand sanitizer regularly.

Third question: How long will I stay protected after taking the coronavirus vaccine? The research so far tells us that vaccine will keep you protected for about six months. However, researchers are saying that the vaccine will increase our body’s immunity to handle this virus for many years to come, although more research is needed on this fact.

How will we get the vaccine?

Finally, after the government gives permission for the emergency use of this vaccine, how will it reach you? Central government will bring this vaccine by air to all the states and from the airport they will be transported in refrigerated vehicles to cold rooms.

After that the vaccines will be kept in ice-boxes where they will be stored at a temperature between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. Then they will be transferred in smaller ice-boxes to vaccination camps.

In the first phase, the vaccine will be given to only doctors, nurses and other health workers. In phase two, it will be given to police officials, journalists, sanitation workers and people over 50 years of age. In the third phase, it will be given to people who are below 50 years of age but are sick.