COVID-19 vaccine education

Feb 22, 2021 News

COVID-19 vaccines

Kaieteur News – In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the government has already begun its campaign to immunize the Guyanese population to achieve herd immunity and see a possible end to the almost year-old pandemic.
As previously reported by Kaieteur News, Guyana received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, more specifically 3,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which was immediately rolled out to frontline health workers.
Guyana is also set to receive a quota of vaccines through the COVID -19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility, which has promised a donation of 104,000 doses and the government is also utilizing bilateral relations to obtain a significant number of vaccines.
Though research and information is provided by the government, this article seeks to highlight the various vaccines the government has announced Guyana will and may receive.

Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
Type – This vaccine is a viral vector vaccine that is made using the common cold virus modified with the SARS-CoV-2 “spike” protein to make it similar to Covid-19. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States of America, “Viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells. For COVID-19 viral vector vaccines, the vector (not the virus that causes COVID-19, but a different, harmless virus) will enter a cell in our body and then use the cell’s machinery to produce a harmless piece of the virus that causes COVID-19. This piece is known as a spike protein and it is only found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Storage – These vaccines can be kept for six months in standard refrigeration.
Dosage – This is a double dose vaccine that is taken 28 days apart.
Possible side effects – Side effects associated with COVID-19 vaccination most times are evidence that the body is processing the information given by the vaccine to create a protective shield. The following symptoms mean that the vaccine is working: tenderness, pain, warmth, redness, itching, swelling or bruising where the injection is given; generally feeling unwell; feeling tired (fatigue); chills or feeling feverish; headache; feeling sick (nausea); joint pain or muscle ache.
Some less possible side effects are: feeling dizzy; decreased appetite; abdominal pain; enlarged lymph nodes; excessive sweating; itchy skin or rash.

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
Type – This is a synthetic messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) vaccine, which is made from enzymes and sends the messenger RNA into the body with instructions on how to produce a harmless piece of the spike protein, which is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the immune cells, the cells use them to make the protein piece. After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them,” according to the CDC.
Storage – This vaccine may be stored in the refrigerator between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F) for up to 30 days, before the vaccine vials are punctured.
Dosage – This is a two-dose vaccine.
Possible side effects – The CDC has listed side effects for this vaccines and they include; pain and swelling to the injection site, fatigue, headache, chills and fever.

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Type – This vaccine too is a viral vector vaccine.
Storage – It must be stored at -20°C.
Dosage – This is a two dosage vaccine.
Side effects – The CDC has stated that the side effects of this vaccine are the same as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Information stated in this article can be sourced at: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/side-effects-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine/103646/, https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/coronavirus-vaccine-side-effects.html, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/viralvector.html#:~:text=Viral%20vector%20vaccines%20use%20a,important%20instructions%20to%20our%20cells

The types of COVID-19 vaccines (Credit: BBC)

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