The disruptions caused by the pandemic might have catalyzed several tech advancements, the world is still craving a return to normalcy where neither wearing a mask nor social distancing will be necessary. And the only way to restore that normality is by making the world’s population immune to SARS-CoV-2, generally known as the Novel Coronavirus.
Thankfully, the wait for the vaccine is finally over and a number of vaccines are already being administered to people across the world. However, since the vaccines were formulated in haste and their efficacy has not been proven beyond doubt, a lot of doubts and questions have emerged around the safety of the vaccines.
Getting answers to four important questions from an expert, Tracy Hussell, Professor of Inflammatory Disease, can help in clearing the fog to a great extent. The first step, however, is to develop an elementary understanding of immunology and how the vaccine will work.
How does the vaccine work?
All Covid vaccines intend to generate a particular immune response to proteins essential for the virus to enter your cells. Vaccines might use a harmless virus that carries the protein mimicking the SARS-CoV-2 virus or use a genetic code – the result remains same. Once the protein that deters the virus is displayed and recognized by the host’s immune system, the body starts producing T cells and antibodies crucial to stopping future infections.
Can 2 different vaccines be taken for the first and second doses?
The second dose of the vaccine is basically a booster dose that strengthens the immune response quality. As long as both the prime dose and the booster dose contain the same critical viral protein, two different vaccines will also work fine.
Booster vaccination is a common phenomenon however, companies must study the immune response of different groups of people to determine if all people will need the same dosage or some groups like senior citizens will need unique approaches like more than two doses.
Do people who already had Covid need to take the vaccine?
Studies show that people who have already recovered from the Covid-19 disease can benefit from the vaccine. Evidence from the study of different hospitalized patients show that in many cases the Covid-19 infection was so extreme that the patients’ immune system was exhausted and failed to create an adequate immune memory to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Similarly, in the mild infection cases, patients’ immune system might not have reached the crucial point of creating the required immune memory. Thus, in both forms of infection – mild and extreme, vaccination is necessary. Moreover, it is essential to understand that any hypothetical side-effect of the vaccine outweighs the risks of getting Covid and its dreadful long-term side-effects that can follow.
Is vaccination necessary for people who took a trial vaccine?
Answer to this question is somewhat ambiguous. Throughout the world several vaccine trials have been carried out. It is possible that people who were part of the trials have gotten their prime dose and a booster doe is all they need to reach the desired immunity threshold. At the same time, it is also possible that their trial vaccine was so effective, that they don’t need the non-trial vaccine anymore.
It is thus recommended that vaccine developers follow up with the people who have taken the vaccine in order to ascertain whether the quality of their immunity is adequate. Also, this should be done over longer periods of time and include all sections of the participants.
