We all have the responsibility to pass on information to others about the benefits of vaccination and stop anti-vaccine myths going around on social media.
Why is it important to be vaccinated? – To avoid COVID!
Catching COVID can be serious and may lead to long COVID complications. While severe COVID is more common in older people who are over-weight, have high blood pressure (BP) or have a chronic disease.
We can have COVID without any symptoms and pass may pass it on to others – some who may be at increased risk of severe illness due to older age or having a chronic disease.
We need to control this pandemic, here in Nigeria and elsewhere, and encouraging everyone to be vaccinated as soon as possible is key to this.
Will the vaccine protect us? – Yes
The COVID vaccination will reduce the chance of you suffering from COVID disease. No vaccine is completely effective, and about 1 in 5 are still at risk of getting a mild illness – though very few will actually get ill. So, a mild illness is possible. But in the trials nobody after the two doses of the AstraZeneca etc. vaccines were ill enough to need care in hospital, and nobody died.
The vaccine has been shown to be effective and no safety concerns were seen in randomised controlled trials of more than 20,000 people, for the Johnson & Johnson, and similarly for other vaccines.
Will the vaccine protect those you care about? – It helps a lot
There have been reports of people getting COVID after being vaccinated, which is not surprising as the effectiveness is not 100%. But remember that it takes up to 2 weeks for the protection after the first dose. So, some people may still get COVID despite having a vaccination, due to infection before or during this two-week post vaccination period. Even so, the vaccination should lessen the severity of any infection.
For the few who do get COVID infection despite being vaccinated, the illness will be less severe. The vaccinated are less likely to pass infection to their friends and family and to the vulnerable people that they care for. The vaccines are less effective against some new variants of COVID.
COVID vaccination reduces the chance of you passing on the virus. But people with the mild or asymptomatic infection are able to pass the virus on.
Side effects? – Are mild as for other vaccines
Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects. As with other vaccinations, most of these are mild and short-term, and not everyone gets them. Even if you do have symptoms after the first dose, you still need to have the second dose. Although you should get good protection from the first dose, having the second dose should give you longer lasting protection against the virus.
Not everyone has side effects after taking the Vaccine, some side effects may include:
- Having a painful, heavy feeling and tenderness in the arm where you had your injection.
- This tends to be worst around 1 to 2 days after the vaccine
- Feeling tired
- Headache, general aches, or mild flu like symptoms.
It helps to take two paracetamol tablets every 6 hours for 24 hours and rest to feel better.
Although feeling feverish is not uncommon for 2 to 3 days, a high temperature is unusual and may indicate another infection.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has debunked claims of severe side effects relating to the administration of the vaccine in Nigeria while stating “No Nigerian so far has developed any known severe side effects following vaccination with AstraZeneca vaccine”.
This article is a collaborative effort from our colleague; Professor John Walley of the University of Leeds, UK: Drs Akan Otu and Emmanuel Effa of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital and Dr. Toju Chike-Obi
