Many diseases, which were considered fatal three decades ago, have almost disappeared due to the vaccine.
Vaccination campaigns have started in many countries of the world to control the corona epidemic.
Information and suggestions related to this may seem complicated to you at times, but there are some basic facts that will help you understand how a vaccine works.
What is a vaccine?
A vaccine prepares your body to fight against any disease, virus or infection.
The vaccine contains some weak or inactive portions of an organism that cause disease.
These motivate the body’s immune system to identify infections (invasive viruses) and make antibodies against them in the body which help our body in fighting external attack.
The negative impact of the vaccine is rarely on people, but some people may have to face its side effects.
Mild fever or rash are common side effects.
You develop immunity to fight the disease only after the vaccine has been applied.
The US Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that vaccines are very powerful because they, unlike most drugs, do not cure a disease, but prevent it from occurring.
The vaccine prepares your body to fight against any disease, virus, or infection.
Are Vaccines Safe?
An early form of the vaccine was discovered by Chinese scientists in the 10th century.
But in 1796, Edward Jenner found that a dose of mild infection of smallpox protects against severe infection of smallpox.
He studied it further. He also tested his theory and his findings were published two years later.
That’s when the word ‘vaccine’ originated. The vaccine was coined from the Latin language ‘Vacca’ which means cow.
The vaccine is considered one of the greatest medical achievements of the modern world.
According to the World Health Organization, every year about two to three million people are saved due to the vaccine.
The CDC says that the vaccine is seriously tested before being brought to the market. They are tested first in laboratories and then on animals. Only then the vaccine is trialed on humans.
In most countries, vaccines are administered to people only after getting permission from local drug regulators.
There are some risks in vaccination, but like all medicines, they have nothing in front of its benefits.
For example, some childhood diseases that were very common up to a generation ago have disappeared rapidly due to the vaccine.
Smallpox, which killed millions of people, is now completely over.
But it often takes decades to achieve success.
Africa was declared the only polio-free country nearly 30 years after the global vaccination campaign began. This is a very long time.
Experts have warned that it may take months or possibly years to get adequate vaccination against the Kovid-19, only after which we will be able to return to normalcy.
Smallpox, which killed millions of people, is completely eradicated with the help of vaccine.
How are vaccines made?
When a new pathogen (pathogen) such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or fungus enters the body, a sub-part of the body called an antigen starts producing antibodies to fight it.
A vaccine contains some weak or inactive portions of an organism that cause disease.
These motivate the body’s immune system to identify infections (invasive viruses) and make antibodies against them in the body which help our body in fighting external attack.
Traditional vaccines develop the body’s ability to fight external attacks.
But now new methods are also being used to develop vaccines. These new methods have also been tried to make some corona vaccines.
Comparison of Covid Vaccine
Fiser-BioNotech and Moderna’s Covid vaccine are both ‘messenger RNA vaccines’ that are used to prepare a portion of the virus’s genetic code.
Instead of using a weak or inactive portion of the vaccine antigen, they teach the body cells how to make the ‘spike protein’ found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19.
The vaccine of Oxford and AstraZeneca is also different. Scientists have made some changes to a virus infecting chimpanzees to prepare it, and have also added a piece of the genetic-code of Covid-19.
All three vaccines have been approved for emergency use in some countries including the US and Britain.
Should I take the covid vaccine?
It has not been made mandatory to install the Covid vaccine anywhere. But most people are advised to get vaccinated. However, there is an exception here in the case of people struggling with health problems.
The CDC says that the vaccine not only protects against Covid-19 but also protects others. Apart from this, the CDC also describes vaccination as the most important way to get out of the epidemic.
The World Health Organization estimates that at least 65–70 percent of people will need to be vaccinated to prevent infection, which means that more people will have to be motivated to get vaccinated.
There are many people who have many concerns about the speed of preparation of the Covid vaccine.
It is true that scientists spend years developing a vaccine, but the speed has been greatly increased to find a solution to the corona epidemic. That is why the World Health Organization is working closely with scientists, business and health organizations.
In short, vaccination of billions of people will prevent the spread of Kovid-19 and the world will move towards herd immunity.
Experts say that the world will be able to return to normal life only through herd immunity.
Does Covid have more vaccines?
Chinese pharmaceutical company Synovac has created a vaccine called ‘Corona-Vac’. It has been launched in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The company has used traditional methods to make this vaccine.
According to the company, inactivated portions of the virus were used to make this vaccine.
However, there are many questions about how effective it is.
The vaccine was trialed in Turkey, Indonesia, and Brazil. Scientists from these countries said after the final stage trials that this vaccine is only 50.4 percent effective.
Two vaccines have been prepared in India.
One is Covishield which was prepared by scientists from AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by Serum Institute of India. And the second vaccine is covaccine made by the Indian company Bharat Biotech.
Russia has prepared its own corona vaccine named ‘Sputnik-5’ and it was prepared by making a slight change in the version of the virus. The same vaccine is also being used in Argentina. Argentina has ordered three million doses of this vaccine for its vaccination campaign.
The African Union has also ordered millions of doses of the vaccine, but has placed orders to several pharmaceutical companies. For example, the African Union has ordered vaccines to Fizer, AstraZeneca (through the Serum Institute) and Johnson & Johnson. The company, Johnson & Johnson, is currently unable to finalize its vaccine.