November 20, 2021
I received the second dose of my covid-19 vaccine last Thursday, November 18. I got the Pfizer vax. Though, I'm not really picky when it comes to the brand. I know that different brands have different efficacy rates. And I heard that the US and some European counties are not accepting those who received some Vaccine brands. Rumor has it that they are not accepting those who received the Sinovac Vaccine. Is it because of the low efficacy rate? or is it because it was made in China? The former is a more valid reason if you ask me.
Greetings, once again dear readers. By the time of writing, a lot of people have already received their covid-19 vaccine. In the Philippines, 36.7% of the population has been fully vaccinated already. Have you received yours already? Now, here is my question. Now that I have received my vaccine already, should I be complacent already? Can I now go wherever I go?
Efficiency
As mentioned above, the different brands of the vaccine have different efficacy rates. But these rates were based only on the available data. Considering the vaccines were developed in a relatively short period of time, will these numbers change as more people are vaccinated?
Anyway here is a table of the efficacy rate of the available vaccines.
See the complete table here:
As you can see, the vaccines may be effective in preventing severe cases of the disease, but they are not 100% effective in preventing mild cases. Meaning, those who got vaccinated, may still have a chance of getting the virus. But the symptoms will be not as deadly. Chances are, you will just exhibit some mild syptoms.
A Story From A Former Covid-19 Positive.
A few weeks ago, while I was doing my morning walk, I came across a friend of mine who was doing his morning walk also. He said he got Covid-19 last September. But the symptoms were mild. At first, he just had a runny nose and a slight sore throat. He thought it was nothing. But when he lost his sense of smell, he had himself tested. The test came out positive. Since he was with his mother who was a senior citizen, he volunteered to stay in the quarantine facility provided by the government.
He said he was already fully vaccinated. And he knew that the vaccine helped keep the virus under control.
Cutting The Fangs Off.
A few months ago, I heard this explanation of a doctor over the local radio. The vaccine is not a hundred percent guarantee that you will not get the virus. But the vaccine is like, you cut the fangs off a wild animal. You may get bitten but the bite is less severe. (Well.. that could still hurt).
I guess this is the same with most, if not all, of the vaccines. I remember our son got chickenpox. Only a few lesions appeared on his face and body. When we had him checked with his pediatrician, she said, it's because of the vaccine. The vaccine helped keep the symptoms of chickenpox at a minimum.
Incubation Period
When I received my first dose of the vaccine. it was explained to us that the antibodies needed to counter the virus take time to develop. The medical worker explained, that we should be extra careful from the day we received the first dose up to two months. Taking alcohol is prohibited since it may kill the antibodies. Rendering the vaccine useless.
At home, someone insisted that alcohol can be taken six days after. And the one insisted is someone who did not receive and does not plan to get vaccinated.
According to the CDC website, it takes about two weeks after the first dose for the body to build immunity against the virus. So from the first dose to the second week after the second dose, you can still be vulnerable.
Should I be Complacent?
Even after the second week, should I be complacent?
At the time of writing, only less than fifty percent in the country are vaccinated. There are people I am frequently in contact with who are not yet vaccinated. I may be immune to the virus after a couple of weeks, but I could be a carrier. And I might carry the virus to the people around me.
So, until there are no more active cases in our city for at least two weeks, I'd rather stay at home most of the time and stay safe.
Final Thoughts.
The pandemic has lingered for almost two years now. It may be over soon. But if we, humans, have not learned the lessons that we were supposed to learn from this global event, we will face something as devastating as this sooner or later.
Stay safe everyone. Thanks For Reading.
Additional Reference:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html
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All content is mine unless otherwise indicated.
Taking the vaccine is something that's always avoided by citizens of my country because it's thought to be something harmful. As there are cases where some had reportedly taken the vaccine and developed some other health problems .
It even happened that someone took the vaccine and still contracted the virus and I have been trying to give an explanation to this. However your explanation in this article settles it....