COVID-19 vaccine education
Vaccines for covid-19
Kaieteur News – In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the government has already begun its campaign to immunize the Guyanese population to secure herd immunity and see a potential end to the almost one-year-old pandemic.
As previously reported by Kaieteur News, Guyana received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, more specifically 3,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which was immediately delivered to frontline health workers.
Guyana is also expected to receive a quota of vaccines through the COVID -19 Global Vaccine Entry Facility (COVAX), which has promised a donation of 104,000 doses and the government is also using bilateral links to obtain a significant number of vaccines.
While the government provides research and information, this article seeks to highlight the various vaccines that the government has announced that Guyana will and could receive.
Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine
Type – This vaccine is a viral vector vaccine that is made using the common cold virus modified with the “pigment” protein SARS-CoV-2 to make it similar to Covid-19. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States of America, “Viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells. For COVID-19 viral vector vaccines, the vector (not the virus that causes COVID-19, but a different, harmless virus) will enter a cell in our body and then use the cell machinery to produce a harmless extract of the virus that causes COVID-19. This extract is called the spike protein and is only found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. “
Storage – These vaccines can be stored for six months in a standard refrigerator.
Dosage – This is a double dose vaccine that is taken 28 days apart.
Possible side effects – Side effects associated with COVID-19 vaccination most times are evidence that the body processes the information given by the vaccine to create a protective shield. The following symptoms make the vaccine work: tenderness, pain, warmth, redness, itching, swelling or bruising where the injection is given; feeling generally ill; feeling tired (fatigue); cold or fever; headache; feeling ill (nausea); joint pain or muscle pain.
Some possible side effects are: feeling dizzy; reduced appetite; abdominal pain; swollen lymph nodes; excessive sweating; itchy skin or rash.
COVID-19 Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine
Type – This is a synthetic messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) vaccine, which is made of enzymes and sends the messenger RNA to the body with instructions on how to produce a harmless extract of the spike protein, which is available on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the immune cells, the cells use them to make the protein fragment. After the protein extract is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them, ”according to the CDC.
Storage – This vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator between 2 ° C and 8 ° C (36 ° F and 46 ° F) for up to 30 days, before the vaccine vials are punctured.
Dosage – This is a two-dose vaccine.
Possible side effects – The GDC has listed side effects for these vaccines and includes; pain and swelling to the injection site, fatigue, headache, cold and fever.
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
Type – This vaccine is also a viral vector vaccine.
Storage – Must be stored at -20 ° C.
Dosage – This is a two-dose vaccine.
Side effects – The CDC has stated that the side effects of this vaccine are the same as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Information cited in this article can be found at: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/side-effects-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine/103646/, https://www.aarp.org/health / conditions-treatments /info-2020/coronavirus-vaccine-side-effects.html, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html and https://www.cdc .gov / coronavirus /2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/viralvector.html#:~:text=Viral%20vector%20vaccines%20use%20a,important%20instructions%20to%20our%20cells
Types of COVID-19 Vaccines (Credit: BBC)