LETTERS: The arrival of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine today can be described as the light of salvation for us in this pandemic era.
While the momentous occasion was celebrated countrywide, many Malaysians are ambivalent as they have doubts about the actual protective effect of vaccination and of course the possible side effects from the jab while they wish to be protected from this infection.
The current batch of vaccines received is from Pfizer BioNTech that applies a rather new technology (nucleic acid-based vaccine) to deliver a messenger, RNA or mRNA vaccine that instructs our body's cells to produce a protein triggering an immune response.
This newer type of vaccine has not been approved for human vaccination while most investigations are in developmental, pre-clinical and clinical evaluation phases, especially for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), influenza and malaria disease. Despites, this vaccine has the highest efficacy with 2 jabs among the currently developed vaccines for Covid-19.
On the other hand, the vaccines produced by AstraZeneca (UK), CanSino Biologics (China) and Sputnik V (Russia) are a type of viral vector vaccine that contains part of the sub-parts of virus to trigger immune response without causing the actual disease.
This platform has been employed to deliver Ebola vaccines including the Ad5-EBOV (China) and the rVSV/Ad5 vectored vaccine (Russia). While, Sinovac (China) inactivated vaccine is a more classic mode of vaccine technology that uses the killed version of the virus. This vaccine type is represented by the currently available hepatitis A, flu (shot), polio (shot) and rabies vaccines.
Even though we witnessed the advent of new technology in delivering vaccine, vaccination is not something unfamiliar to any of us. At the moment when we're born, we receive the first jab of vaccine – BCG for tuberculosis and hepatitis B under the national vaccination programme in Malaysia.
This is followed by DTaP-HB-IPV-Hib vaccine at the second to fifth month of born that protects against 6 diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis B (HB), polio (IPV), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). The booster dose for this vaccine was given later from the age 7 onwards.
It is worth to highlight that some regions require additional jabs such as for Japanese encephalitis (JE) in Sarawak and measles in Sabah. This vaccination programme is designed to lay a strong foundation among us against the common yet dangerous infectious diseases, especially in this region.
The misconception of vaccination has brought a deleterious effect to society and an additional burden to our healthcare system. My previous practice at a peaediatric ward in a general hospital in Sarawak observed numerous cases of the infections aforementioned, especially tuberculosis and diphtheria.
It is empathetic to see the kids suffering from the disease for a long time, hospitalised for months and years. Apart from the difficulty to access healthcare services, the lack of knowledge about vaccination among the parents living in the rural areas is the major reason for the missed vaccine doses. The moment they were admitted to the hospital, they were in a dire state most of the time.
Do we expect any side effects of vaccination? I would say maybe. The same we should expect when we take medications such as tablets, emulsion or capsules for common diseases like inflammation, cold, headache and stomach ache.
Redness, swelling or pain around the injection site is typical following any jab. While we may observe fatigue, fever, headache and aching limbs in the first three days after vaccination due to the stimulation of our immune system to produce antibodies.
Sharing from my friends abroad who have received the Covid-19 vaccine has highlighted some of these symptoms. However, these symptoms are usually relieved over a short time and may be aided by common pain relief pills.
Other side effects which are more serious including allergic shock and temporary facial paralysis are usually rare and reported as isolated cases, which are commonly potentiated by the adverse health conditions.
Christian Bogdan, director of the Institute for Clinical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene at Erlangen University Hospital in Germany who is also a member of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) once said that, "If an elderly person has a 20 per cent chance of dying from a coronavirus infection, and at the same time the risk of getting a severe side effect of the vaccination is 1:50000 or even less. I would accept that risk".
The war against Covid-19 is not easy and vaccination is a bright hope now for a speedy recovery of the social and economic aspects nationwide. It must be remembered that such vaccination programme is considered successful with over 80 per cent of the nations receiving the jab.
Also, vaccination is not an overnight magic that requires us not to obey the current standard operation procedure for infection prevention. Mask, hand hygiene and social distancing are necessities in the short future before a full recovery nationwide and worldwide.
While the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk, what are we waiting for now? Don't listen to hearsay but do believe in the power of science in advancing human health.
Register as soon as the official portal is available and get our family members and friends protected from this common enemy during this pandemic.
Dr Goh Choon Fu
Senior lecturer, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times