Johns Hopkins prof: weigh benefits, risks of covid19 vaccine

The AstraZeneca vaccine
The AstraZeneca vaccine

ASSOCIATE Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University Damali A Piggott advised that someone who is hesitant about taking a covid19 vaccine should compare the pros and cons of being inoculated against the virus.

“People should try and weigh the benefits of taking the vaccine and the risk involved in hospitalisation and death from covid19,” Piggott said.

He was speaking at the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition’s virtual panel discussion on vaccine equity and the implications for global herd immunity on Thursday.

He admitted there have been side effects and there are still unknowns where the vaccine is concerned, but said there is still a chance that people who take the vaccine would not experience them.

In contrast, covid19 has infected more than 159 million people and killed more than 3.2 million.

Saying he had taken the vaccine, he said he had to consider the benefits and risks himself.

“I was critical in terms of the appraisal of the vaccine, but I looked at the data and I weighed the benefits.”

He added that people should also have access to accurate information on the vaccine.

“It is important that people are empowered with the right information to make the best decision, It should be a grounding principle that people can have access to that data in ways they can understand.”

Vaccines work by teaching cells in a person’s body to make what is considered a harmless protein piece which other cells would use as a form of "target practice," so that if the actual virus should enter the body, the immune system would be prepared and capable to defend itself.

The benefit of the vaccine is gaining the defences against the virus without the risk of the extreme effects.

There are many questions still left unanswered when taking the vaccine, however. In the case of two-dose vaccines, scientists are still not sure how long after the first dose a second dose would be effective, or if the vaccine would require further dosage later on. He said scientists are looking into these questions and hope to apply the results to later rollouts of the vaccine.

Piggot noted that testing for the vaccine was done in a limited environment, using several trials. Because of this, he said, it would be best that people stayed as close to the prescribed process as possible. He said if you take the first dose of the vaccine and miss the date for the second dose, you should arrange to take the second dose at a later date instead of restarting the process.

But before all of this, people would have to have access to the vaccine, Piggott said.

According to a Financial Times tracker, Israel, Bahrain and Chile have the world's highest rates of vaccination, with 56 per cent 34 per cent and 36 per cent of their respective populations vaccinated. Much lower down the list is Trinidad and Tobago, with four vaccinations per every 100 people, four per cent of the population receiving their first dose and 0.02 per cent being fully vaccinated.

“If we are to achieve protection from covid19 and get the world back to a normal state, we have to maximise vaccination rollout,” Piggott said.

He said equitable distribution of the vaccines should be based on relieving the burden on healthcare systems, ensuring that all have access to vaccination, that no one is disadvantaged because of social differences, and that the vaccination process is transparent.

Comments

"Johns Hopkins prof: weigh benefits, risks of covid19 vaccine"

More in this section