Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic came, the world’s worst nightmare has come to life. Something which was once anticipated and even became plot of movies like the Contagion (2011). There was so much uncertainty about what measures to be taken and when to take them. At the time, as part of the multi-disciplinary team at the hospital, felt like aiming darts in the dark. With the ICU surge, limited options for diagnostics, shortage of medicine as well as supporting equipment and no clue of any proven cures, it felt like a soldier on the border waiting to be ambushed by the unknown enemy. We were led by the consultants or you may call them admirals, in this case, who were above the age of 60 (the age group of highest mortality) leading from the front, going to Corona patient’s bedside with what was available; selfless passion.
When the mist of uncertainty settled, around June, the conspiracies kicked in, with all the horrendous stuff, making public doubt the struggle to take protective measures. People gradually stopped taking precautions and the second wave arrived, with no vaccine in sight. But as of now, on February 18, 2021, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Faisal Sultan announced from his twitter handle, about registration process of three priority categories for the vaccination (the frontline staff, healthcare workers, and geriatric patients).
But people still have doubts, with Bell’s Palsy associated with vaccine, what is associate for >0.1%, was depicted to threat the majority in news, social media and mobile app chat groups. Whereas, as it turns out such adverse reactions are idiosyncratic, and have been associated with other vaccines such as influenza vaccine as well. The only contraindication for getting the vaccine is, if you have any hypersensitivity reported for the active ingredients or the excipients (other components) of the vaccine. If you want the information about the contents of the vaccine product, you can always talk to your pharmacist about it. Other issues include the groups in which the vaccine trial has not been carried out or showed lack of efficacy. Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has put a system in place to monitor the possible adverse effects of the vaccine, through its Med Safety mobile App. It can be downloaded from Playstore on Android phones and any one can report any reaction from the vaccine, on it.
There are four vaccines that have been registered with the DRAP, the BBIBP-CorV by Sinopharm (China), AZD1222 (ChAdOx1-S (recombinant)) by Oxford- AstraZeneca (United Kingdom), Sputnik V by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology (Russia) and Convidicea AD5-nCOV by CanSinoBio (China).
Getting jab is our national duty, for the safety of our own self, our patients and our families. Unfortunately, the turnout is a bit slow. Only 1,500 healthcare workers received the first shot up till now out of almost 300,000. So, if you are a healthcare worker or not, I request you to think about getting vaccinated, if you get the opportunity.
Speaking of myself, I am a pharmacist, who works in one of the biggest hospitals of Pakistan, and as an health care worker, I definitely want to get myself vaccinated. As a matter of fact, I have got registered for the vaccination process through National Command Operation Center (NCOC) portal, and eagerly waiting for my turn.