Covid-19 Disease ;The perspective of a Frontline health worker ....( Overview of the situation thus far ) PART 3
Hmmm
Greetings ,Fellow
This post concludes my own perspectives and assessment of the covid-19 Pandemic from the very beginning in China to now world wide spread and the most recent twist , Vaccination !
In my last post the focus was on the vaccination part and today I will conclude by enumerating a few other vaccines that we may have someway somehow come across or taken the jab and which works in a similar fashion as this AstraZeneca vaccine (which is a live attenuated virus vaccine )
Let’s start by refreshing ourselves with ;
How does Covaxin work?
The homegrown government-backed vaccine has been developed by Bharat Biotech, a 24-year-old vaccine maker, which has a portfolio of 16 vaccines and exports to 123 countries.
It is an inactivated vaccine which means that it is made up of killed coronaviruses, making it safe to be injected into the body. Bharat Biotech used a sample of the coronavirus, isolated by India's National Institute of Virology.
When administered, immune cells can still recognise the dead virus, prompting the immune system to make antibodies against the pandemic virus.
What about Covishield
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is being manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. It says it is producing more than 50 million doses a month.
The vaccine, which is known as Covishield, is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like coronavirus - although it can't cause illness.When the vaccine is injected into a patient, it prompts the immune system to start making antibodies and primes it to attack any coronavirus infection.
The jab is administered in two doses given between four and 12 weeks apart. It can be safely stored at temperatures of 2C to 8C, about the same as a domestic refrigerator, and can be delivered in existing health care settings such as doctors' surgeries.
This makes it easier to distribute than some of the other vaccines.
The jab developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, which is currently being administered in several countries, must be stored at -70C and can only be moved a limited number of times - a particular challenge in India, where summer temperatures can reach 50C.
How effective is Covishield ?
International clinical trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine showed that when people were given a half dose and then a full dose, effectiveness hit 90%.
But there was not enough clear data to approve the half-dose, full-dose idea.
However, unpublished data suggests that leaving a longer gap between the first and second doses increases the overall effectiveness of the jab - in a sub-group given the vaccine this way it was found to be 70% effective after the first dose.
In basic immunology, the vaccine will provide aritifical active immunity .The way to go with this pandemic and the most reliable game changer is the vaccine !
No need to fear this vaccine. Our lives must’ve been spared by the numerous other vaccines we took since childhood..
See below Ghana’s expanded programme of immunization with several of the vaccines given to the children having similar physiological workings as this covid vaccine ...
Ghana’s EPI
The current EPI schedule recommends Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) at birth; a total of 4 doses of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) given at birth, 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age (OPV 0, OPV1, OPV 2 and OPV 3 respectively); 3 doses of Diphtheria, Pertusis, Tetanus, Haemophilus influenzae type B and Hepatitis B (DPT/HiB/HepB) 5-in-1 vaccine at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age. Measles and Yellow fever vaccines are administered at 9 months
Examples of currently available live, attenuated vaccines against viral infections include measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), cowpox, yellow fever, influenza (FluMist®) intranasal vaccine), and oral polio vaccine. Live, attenuated bacterial vaccines include tuberculosis, BCG, and oral typhoid vaccine.
This suggests that in a way or the other ,directly or indirectly we may have taken a jab of a similar vaccine ,the only difference now is this has been for a pandemic .
Thanks for reading !
References
MOH Ghana(2020) Provisional Standard Treatment Guidelines for Novel Coronavirus Infection ,Covid-19 Guidelines for Ghana.Version 1.0 Retrieved 21 July 2020 from
https://www.moh.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Covid-19-STG-June-2020-1.pdf
WHO.(2020,May27) Clinical management of COVID-19 Interim Guidance. Retrieved May 20,2020,from World Health Organization :
Well explained