COVID-19 is a life-threatening complication and we don’t know in which way it will affect us because most of the affected people are asymptomatic. Taking some precautions such as wearing a mask, maintaining social distance, and washing or cleaning your hands properly can prevent the spread of COVID-19. Getting vaccinated will protect you, decrease the risk for severe illness, and help reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. In these situations, safety is the top priority.
How is COVID-19 vaccine safe and effective?
As per the reports, in our country lakhs of the new corona cases are recorded in recent days. Taking a corona vaccine does not mean that you are 100% safe. But it slows down the risk of transmission and the secondary risk of you getting complications goes down to 85% to 90%. Currently, in India Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik V vaccines are available. The Covishield is a DNA vaccine that codes for the spike protein, whereas the Covaxin produces antibodies against many regions of the complete virus. Sputnik V is a vaccine through which the body starts to produce antibodies especially tailored to the coronavirus. This is a fully inactivated virus. These vaccines do a great job of preventing severe infection, hospitalization and you should be ready to take the vaccine that is available for you.
COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective because all approved vaccines are clinically tested before being released to the public. It’s common for every vaccine there will be some symptoms. After taking the vaccine some side
effects have been recorded like soreness at the injection site, headache, and fever. In the majority of the cases, these post-vaccination symptoms disappear quickly. People who are taking medicines for illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and heart problems need to get the COVID vaccine because they are considered to have a high risk through the virus. The people who are suffering from health issues should take the vaccine to improve the immunity in their bodies. 19 out of 20 people are safe after vaccination.
It is important to understand the requirements of vaccination. The duration between the first dose and second dose vaccine should be four weeks. According to a recent analysis by the drug controller general of India(DCGI) , there should be a six to eight weeks duration between the first dose and second dose vaccination to show better immunogenicity and antibodies in the body. For the vaccine to be effective, we need sufficient antibodies which will be produced in our body after both the doses and commonly seen after 2-3 weeks of the second dose.
But in some cases vaccinated people, even after taking both doses are tested positive. Such cases are referred to as “breakthrough” infections, showing that the virus has been able to break through the protection produced by the vaccine. We have to remember that no vaccine is 100% effective and safe but it is essential to understand that leading vaccines have a 95% success rate. According to recent ICMR reports of such cases, only 0.05% are noticed. So vaccination is important in controlling the spread of COVID-19, and we must all take the vaccine.
What is the age limit for the COVID vaccine?
In the starting phase, the COVID-19 vaccine was provided to the priority group of people like health care and front-line workers. In the second phase vaccination for the people who are above 60 years and the age between 45 to 59 with illness or people who are suffering from any health issues were vaccinated.
Currently, in India vaccines are given to people who are above 45. But in our country, at least 1 lakh cases are reported daily. Based on the inputs from several health experts in the states like Maharashtra and Delhi, the central government announced that from May 1st people aged between 18 to 45 are also eligible for the vaccination In this phase, vaccines will be available to directly sell 50% of their stock to state government and private hospitals.
Many states like Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Karnataka, West Bengal, and some other states are giving free vaccines to the people in their states. Till now more than 14 crore vaccine doses have been provided in our country to people above 45 years.
How to register for the COVID vaccine?
You can register for the COVID-19 vaccine using the Cowin portal and also through Aarogya setu app. It is important to note that the user can add up to four members through one login and you can easily register for the slot.
Some people are facing problems while registering because they have not received OTP to complete their registration. Meanwhile, a large number of users who didn’t get their OTP could not find slots in their areas for setting up a vaccination appointment.
COVID-19 vaccine is now available at Sai Sanjeevini Hospital Narasimhapuri colony, Kothapet, Hyderabad. You can register in the Cowin portal for the vaccine and choose your preferred locations. The vaccination starts from 10 am to 5 pm.