Covid-19 VaccinesÂ
One of the most urgent vaccines in our current situation, the Covid-19 pandemic, is the Covid-19 vaccine. Originating from a disease outbreak in Wuhan, China, Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is an airborne infection caused by coronavirus type SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). Covid-19 affects the lungs, airways, and other parts of the body such as the liver and kidney. Covid-19 is highly infectious as it may spread through air droplets when people cough, sneeze, and talk, or transferred between surfaces harboring landed droplets. Infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 may lead to serious illness and even death in severe cases. Symptoms of Covid-19 generally include a fever (38oC and above), dry coughs, tiredness, difficulty breathing, and loss of smell or taste (anosmia) (World Health Organization, 2021).
Why Should You Get Vaccinated?Â
Declared a pandemic on March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly mutated to more than 10 global variants, as well as infected nearly half a billion (494 million) worldwide as of April 2022 (Our World in Data, 2022). Viruses constantly change through mutation, sometimes resulting in a new variant that persists in the environment. Callaway (2022) states that new variants will continue to emerge, some causing more severe symptoms that lead to hospitalization (e.g. delta), while others spreading faster (e.g. omicron). In response to the rapid infection of Covid-19 and emergence of concerning variants, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly recommends eligible individuals (aged 12 and above), especially those in high-risk communities such as the elderly (aged 60 and above) and healthcare workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Individuals are advised to be fully vaccinated (2 times) and receive a booster (3rd vaccine) for optimum immunity in protecting themselves and the others around them.
Covid-19 vaccines provide protection for individuals by reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death caused by a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although preventive measures such as washing hands regularly, wearing a mask, and physical distancing are also advised to prevent infection, the Covid-19 vaccine can help combat the pandemic by reducing hospitalization and death rates caused by serious Covid-19 symptoms, thereby helping authorities maintain essential healthcare services. According to the Singaporean Ministry of Health (2022), unvaccinated people aged 80 and above were 20 times more likely to get infected by Covid-19 as compared to those who are fully vaccinated with an additional booster shot. The Washington State Department of Health (2022) also stated that unvaccinated individuals are 5 to 7 times more likely to be hospitalized due to Covid-19 infection depending on age group. Moreover, the elderly over 80 years of age in Chile were 3 times more likely to die from Covid-19 as compared to those who had received a full vaccination and booster. These values indicate that vaccinations are a critical step in preventing Covid-19 hospitalization and death.
In early 2020, American, European, Asian, and African countries all reported a critical shortage of ventilator machines and hospital beds due to the excessive number of admitted Covid-19 patients (Ranney et al., 2020). According to Liddell et al. (2020), approximately 2.5% of Covid-19 patients required mechanical ventilation. Despite having 172,700 ventilators, the United States also had to scramble for ventilators to face their national health emergency. Countries such as Japan, China, Italy, and France made headlines as they raced against each other to pre-order ventilators from already backlogged machines for as much as 8 months in advance. During this healthcare emergency, doctors had to make "decision-making support", meaning that life and death decisions were made based on a patient's relative "capacity to benefit quickly". Patients with a worse prognosis were withdrawed from treatment to provide for others who required the same resource. As a result, millions died, and some, unlawfully. To prevent such events from happening again, lawful citizens must abide by the recommendation of the WHO, CDC, and national governments to receive full vaccinations.
Do Vaccine Brands Matter?Â
The WHO works in collaboration with central governments to fully vaccinate 70% of the global population in efforts to reach worldwide herd immunity. As of January 2022, WHO has evaluated 9 vaccines, namely AstraZeneca-Oxford, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer-BionTech, Sinopharm, Sinovac, COVAXIN, Covovax, and Nuvaxovid against Covid-19, all of which met the necessary criteria for safety and efficacy (>50% efficacy). Each of these vaccines are either mRNA, viral vector-based, protein sub-unit, or whole-virus type depending on their active ingredients.
- Q: Will viral vector-based vaccines cause Covid-19 since it contains a virus?
A: The vector virus is harmless. It is not the virus that causes Covid-19, and thus cannot cause Covid-19 infection. - Q: Will the vector virus affect or interact with our DNA?
A: The genetic material delivered by the vector virus cannot integrate into DNA. - Q: Will the spike protein persist in our body and cause negative effects?
A: Spike proteins are estimated to stay in the body for up to a few weeks, just like any other protein the body creates.
