By: Nour Hany

Since the first release of the COVID-19 vaccine, many questions have crossed people’s minds regarding it. In this article, we will be viewing some of the common questions associated with the vaccine, and their answers from the experts’ point of view.

Do the vaccines protect against the new virus variants, including those first identified in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil?

As the data suggests, “most of the vaccines do provide at least some protection against the new variants”. Some antibody neutralization studies and clinical trial data show that “vaccines designed against the original strains of the virus might not be quite as effective against certain new variants—particularly against mutations found in the B.1.351 variant that is now widespread in South Africa”.

Should you get an authorized COVID vaccine now if you are eligible?

Yes, you should definitely do that! More people need to get vaccinated in order to build herd immunity and also to slow down the spread of the disease.

Should you get vaccinated if you have already had COVID?

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not suggested “a minimum interval between recovering from COVID and getting vaccinated. Your symptoms should be gone, and you should be released from quarantine before you go get a vaccine so as not to give COVID to anyone else”. Also, according to White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, you should wait 90 days before you get vaccinated if you have been infected.

If you get the vaccine and still get infected, does the vaccine still make a difference? Will it prevent severe disease or death?

Yes, it will. Less severe cases, and almost no deaths nor hospitalizations, have been noticed in vaccinated people who get infected. “Several vaccine trials have observed a reduction in severe disease in the vaccinated subjects. With a few exceptions—such as, possibly, the AstraZeneca vaccine in South Africa—the vaccines appear to reduce your risk of getting symptomatic COVID, but if you do get it, it is very likely to be a less severe case”.

Reference

www.scientificamerican.com