2020 COVID - 19 pandemic after being a long and a rough year now a big moment has come. It’s very exciting with lots of hope, emotions and tears of joy, happiness and light that is VACCINE.
Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi Ji launched Covid Vaccine- Covid shield on 14th January 2021 in India.
Over 3000 vaccination sites across the length and breadth of India. We the Career group of institution
has received the golden opportunity to serve the humanity by COVID-19 vaccination drive. Institute initiated this event on 16th January where almost or close to 100 health care professionals will be vaccinated everyday commencing from IV class workers to staff nurses and lastly Doctors
Process of vaccination at centre:
Proper arrangement were done to follow the COVID-19 guidelines of masking and social distancing as well as post vaccination assessment of adverse effects of covidshield. The center has received covid shield it is stable, easily transported and stored at vaccine carrier and domestic fridge at temperature (2-8 degrees C), so can be easily administered in existing healthcare settings. The vaccine was given intramuscular (IM) in the deltoid muscle.
The course consists of two separate doses of 0.5 ml each.1st dose has been administered which encourages the body to start creating antibodies against the virus and 2nd dose will be administered after 28days that will supercharge the process creating more and more antibodies until you reach a level of immunity. Trained health care professionals were assigned to vaccinate with genuine medical facilities emergency management setup to deal with adversely affected recipients.
Post vaccination lounge was established for recipients to ensure no instant adverse effects has occurred. A list of recipients (health care professionals) has been generated by Government hospitals with details of receiving venue, date ,day, timing where they can go and grab the opportunity. The vaccination drive continued for a week so that no recipient in the list should get missed. Other nearby hospital staff was also benefitted e.g Lake city hospital and Paliwal hospital.
The only thing that will really allow life as we once knew it to resume is a vaccine .“Vaccines are the tugboats of preventive health”. it’s a request to community do not fall prey to fake news and negative rumors about vaccination and whenever you get an opportunity kindly get vaccinated. Vaccines are safe, effective and life saving.
FAQ’S ……..
Q.Is a COVID vaccine scheduled anytime soon ?
A.The COVID vaccine was launched on 16th January, 2021. The first group includes healthcare and frontline workers. The second group to receive COVID 19 vaccine will be persons over 50 years of age and persons under 50 years with co-morbid conditions.
Q.How Many Doses Are Needed?
A.The vaccination course includes two doses of 0.5 ml each. It is important that the second dose be given between 4 to 6 weeks post the initial dose to complete the course.
Q.Is it mandatory to take the vaccine?
A.COVID vaccine will be introduced only when the safety is proven. As is true for other vaccines, the common side effects in some individuals could be mild fever, pain, etc. at the site of injection. States have been asked to start making arrangements to deal with any Covid-19 vaccine-related side-effects as one of the measures towards safe vaccine delivery among masses.
Q.What about Covid Vaccination of pregnant , lactating mother and children below 18years ?
A.Pregnant and lactating mothers and children below 18 have not been a part of covid 19 vaccine clinical trials so far so right now they are contraindicated to get vaccinated.
Q.Will the vaccine be safe as it is being tested and introduced in a short span of time?
A.Vaccines will be introduced in the country only after the regulatory bodies clear it based on its safety and efficacy.Q.Is it necessary for a COVID recovered person to take the vaccine?
A.Yes, it is advisable to receive complete schedule of COVID vaccine irrespective of past history of infection with COVID-19. This will help in developing a strong immune response against the disease.
Q.Out of the multiple vaccines available, how is one or more vaccine chosen for administration?
A.The safety and efficacy data from clinical trials of vaccine candidates are examined by Drug regulator of our country before granting the license for the same. Hence, all the COVID-19 vaccines that receive license will have comparable safety and efficacy. However, it must be ensured that the entire schedule of vaccination is completed by only one type of vaccine as different COVID-19 vaccines are not interchangeable.
Q.Will the vaccine introduced in India be as effective as the ones introduced in other countries?
A.Yes. The COVID-19 vaccine introduced in India will be as effective as any vaccine developed by other countries. Various phases of vaccine trials are undertaken to ensure its safety and efficacy.
Q.What about the possible side-effects from COVID-19 vaccine?
A.COVID vaccine will be introduced only when the safety is proven. As is true for other vaccines, the common side effects in some individuals could be mild fever, pain, etc. at the site of injection. States have been asked to start making arrangements to deal with any Covid-19 vaccine-related side-effects as one of the measures towards safe vaccine delivery among masses.Q. After one has been vaccinated when does the immunity kick in and how long does it last ?
A. The vaccine that we have right now are all two dose vaccine after the first dose we see a good immune response that kicks in within 2weeks of 1st dose and it’s the 2nd dose that boost the immune response and we see immunity within shorter period of time.yet we don’t know how long immunity last from the vaccine we have at hand patients are being followed up.
Q. After vaccination can one still catch COVID-19 ?
A.The clinical trials demonstrate that these vaccine protect against disease what we donot know yet from clinical trials is whether or not the vaccine also protect people getting infected with covid again.
Q.Why does one need to continue with precaution even after vaccination and how long we are expected to take these precautions ?
A.Vaccine are in short supply in community to protect everybody this is the reason why we have to continue the precaution of masking ,social distancing, hand hygiene and avoiding crowd till we receive broad vaccination coverage in community.
Thank you
Mrs.Vinisha Khare
Associate Professor
Career College of Nursing Bhopal
