COVID-19 VACCINATION: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

Since its outbreak in the later part of 2019, the CORONAVIRUS (SARS-COV2) has absolutely shattered normal life on the planet. Apart from affecting economy, education, businesses, and sports, this deadly virus has claimed more than three million lives worldwide. While struggling and fighting against the virus for better part of 2020, using the sanitization protocols, wearing face masks, lockdowns, etc. Man has finally prepared vaccine against the pandemic, thanks to science after all. 

The vaccination drive is going on worldwide with different brands of them available, such as

AstraZeneca

Sinopharm

CanSino

Sputnik V

Pfizer-BioNTech

Over 1.11 billion people across the globe have so far been vaccinated, however there still exists some reluctance from the masses to get vaccinated.

 

LET’S TRY TO ANSWER SOME OF THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT VACCINATION

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT IS A VACCINE?

Vaccine, basically is a preparation that provides you with optimum immunity to fight an infection. Interestingly, it usually contains dead/inactivated virus, a part of its protein, or its toxin. It prepares and alerts your body defense mechanism for a probable attack by an active, poisonous, and deadly virus.

 IS IT “NECESSARY AND SAFE” TO GET VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19?

      Off course, you have no other choice AND IT IS SAFE.         

        

      ARE THE AVAILABLE VACCINES EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE MUTANT STRAINS TOO?

     Yes, they are. The mutation in the virus usually involves a change in the protein, more specifically, a change in the amino acid sequence. That doesn’t really make a lot of difference to the mechanism of action of these vaccines or preparing your body defense mechanism against any mutant strain.

 

DO THESE VACCINES HAVE ANY SIDE EFFECTS?

     Yes, short term effects and not serious. Headache, Muscle pain, pain at the sight of injection, fever, and diarrhea may be encountered after vaccination.

      

      IS THERE ANY CHANCE OF INFECTION AFTER VACCINATION?

Yes. A person vaccinated against COVID-19 can get infected again, but the virulence will be lower. Simply, vaccination will save you from being shifted to hospital if you get infected afterwards.

 

POST-VACCINATION, IS IT NECESSARY TO FOLLOW SOP’s ?

Most of the vaccines against any virus, especially the Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19, contain the dead/inactivated virus or a part of its protein (Pfizer vaccine is based on the modern RNA technology). As soon as you get vaccinated, your immunity goes down to zero. At that stage, if you feel like the “KING OF THE WORLD” and go out freely, there are more chances of you being infected and I mean HIT BADLY, because your immunity is at the lowest position and you are more prone to attack than ever before.

So stay home, avoid mass contact, gatherings and meetings, wear face mask and keep social distancing as soon as you get vaccinated.

It takes some time for the immunity to be reinstated and when to take the second dose after 21 days, don’t think of yourself a “HERCULES” again because once more your immunity level goes down with vaccination. It take about 10-14 days when your body develops antibodies against the virus and that is when you can start the feel of the “KING OF THE WORLD”. Remember, you can still be infected but with less virulence.

 

WHAT IS MUTATION AND WHERE DOES IT OCCUR IN CORONAVIRUS?

Mutation is a change in the structure of the protein of the virus. More specifically, the amino acid sequence changes during mutations. Coronavirus has spike proteins on its surface. Mutation takes place in these spike proteins. These surface proteins are responsible for interaction with the receptors in human body. So when the surface protein mutates, the mode of interaction may also change and that is why its takes a different shape, even deadlier, as we have seen recently in case of the UK strain or African strains.

 

 

IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTION IN YOUR MIND, SEND IT IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ADDED TO THE POST. 

 

 

STAY HOME, STAY SAFE

 

GET VACCINATED

 

ALMOST THERE!