COVID-19 VACCINATION

BY Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha

On 30 January 2020, the WHO recognised COVID-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC); and later, on 11 March of the same year, the World Health Organization declared it to be a pandemic.

Since then, this devastating virus has killed over seven million people. In addition to those who died as a result of COVID-19, there are many others who recovered from the disease but suffer from damaged airways as a result of being infected by the coronavirus.

This is what’s called ‘long COVID’ – but very little is known about it.

The only protection one has against the SARS-CoV-2 virus is vaccination, whereby a substance that mimics the appearance of the virus is introduced into our bodies. This motivates the body’s immune system to produce special cells called ‘immunocytes.’ By getting vaccinated, we help our bodies to develop immunity to the COVID-19 virus without contracting it.

These vaccines – whether they are made in China, India or the US – require extensive and expensive research, before they can be developed and distributed to various countries around the world to provide immunity to those who need it. The vaccines are expensive because they have to be efficacious.

The quality of the vaccines we have today reflects a very high degree of efficacy.

Their effectiveness is more than even those of the typhoid and cholera vaccines, which people take before travelling overseas.

Although each vaccine works in slightly different ways to provide protection, whatever jab you take results in the formation of a host of cells called ‘memory lymphocytes.’ And these memory lymphocytes remember how to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it enters your body.

The problem with these memory lymphocytes is that their numbers wane with time. So after a full course of vac­cinations, you will need a booster dose – as in the case of childhood vaccinations – to maintain levels of immunity.

It is recommended that if your previous dose of the COVID-19 vaccination (or your last episode of the coronavirus’ infection, if you were lucky enough to have survived the attack!) was over six months ago, you should get a booster dose.

There are a few facts that you should keep in mind with regard to COVID-19 vaccines. Booster doses of the vaccine can be very effective but they have short lifespans and are useless after their expiry dates.

Vaccines have to be stored at specific temperatures – usually in a temperature controlled fridge. And if a vaccine has remained at temperatures warmer than storage temperature, it is useless.

If vaccines are administered to people who suffer from malnutrition, or an iron or a vitamin D deficiency, their bodies will not be able to muster an effective immune response – so the vaccine can prove useless.

Finally and most importantly, the COVID-19 vaccination can only be effective if it is actually injected into a person’s body. So unless the vaccines are stored carefully, used properly and injected into people’s arms, they will be of no use.

If your immunity is waning therefore, get yourself a booster vaccination as soon as possible.