Vaccine or Virus 1 - Are the rumours true?

 

"Oh my god! It is not even a vaccine! They are injecting the virus into our bodies."

"The vaccine has serious complications in the coming future" 

"So many healthy people are dead after vaccination." 

"Never get vaccinated! You will die."  

"Vaccination is totally unsafe"

These have been spreading more than the virus itself because we all have started believing the less factual memes, rumors, and myths of social media more than our experienced doctors and scientists who are tirelessly working only for our betterment.  But no worries! let's dig a little into some "Actual facts."

Starting with a basic concept - The Purpose

"The main purpose of a covid vaccine is not to give you covid negative results but to reduce the severe complication if you get infected."

Are covid vaccines made up of coronavirus? 

Basically, any vaccine is made up of the same microbes that cause the disease.  These microbes are either killed or weakened to a point where it doesn't make us sick. This is the same in the case of  Covaxin, and Covishield which are now available in India.  

The Covaxin is made up of dead coronavirus or we can say the infectious part of the virus is inactivated. 

Whereas in Covishield,  the adenovirus (a common cold-causing virus in chimpanzees) is weakened and modified to look like coronavirus.  As it is a viral vector vaccine, the virus acts as a vector, inside it contains the genetic code of coronavirus which is injected into bodies.  

For example, we can imagine mosquitoes as vectors injecting malaria microbes into the human body.

So, which vaccine is the best?

There is no best or worst amongst these vaccines, both are proven equally effective and offer protection against corona. 

Why trust the vaccine?

Before coming to the public, the vaccine undergoes several trial phases, 

The first stage is the preclinical trial where they test the vaccine by injecting it into animals like mice, rats, or monkeys.  If this trial succeeds then the next trial begins.

The next stage is clinical trials, it has three phases, 

In Phase 1, a small group of healthy humans are given the vaccine with their consent and monitored carefully.  Promising phase 1 trial leads to the next phase.

In Phase 2, several hundred humans are given the vaccine.  Some individuals may also belong at risk of acquiring the disease.  Successful phase 2 leads to the next phase.

In Phase 3, random several thousands of humans are given the vaccine.  At this stage, rare adverse events happen in 1 out of 10,000 individuals.  End of this trial the safety and efficacy are well assured.

In the final step, the vaccine is licensed and approved by FDA.  Only after all these successful phases, the vaccine comes to the public.

So, vaccines are completely safe, and getting vaccinated is the only best thing we can do to protect ourselves.

But several people are dead after vaccination. What about that?

Check out my next blog "Vaccine or Virus-2" to know more about it.