COVID-19 VACCINE

 

The Coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on all our lives. While we are each doing our part of prevent the spread, and while frontline healthcare workers risk their lives to care for the sick, researchers are racing to find the one thing that will protect all of us in the long run a vaccine.

The vaccine will become the currency of life and death. Nearly every person on the planet will need it to stay safe from the virus. Ensuring everyone has access is the only way to protect us all from another COVID-19 pandemic.The greatest challenge is ensuring everyone on the planet gets the vaccine as quickly as possible and free of charge.

WHO continues to support countries to maintain essential immunization for all vaccine preventable diseases. We issued guidance on immunization services during the COVID-19 pandemic, which provides guiding principles and considerations to support countries in their decision-making regarding provision of immunization services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The world is waiting for a vaccine against COVID-19. Could you explain how vaccines work to prevent disease?

- A Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases. Vaccines reduce risks of getting diseases by working with our body’s natural defenses to build protection. When we get a vaccine, our immune system responds, it

· recognizes the invading germ, such as the virus or bacteria,

· produces antibodies, proteins produced naturally by the immune system to fight disease;

· remembers the disease and how to fight it. If you are then exposed to the germ in the future, your immune system can quickly destroy it before you become unwell.


How do we know if vaccination will be safe? I know some people will have negative reactions after vaccination?

-Vaccines approved by competent national regulatory authorities are very safe. As with all medicines, side effects can occur after getting a vaccine. However, these are usually very minor and of short duration, such as a sore arm or a mild fever. More serious side effects are possible, but extremely rare. A person is far more likely to be seriously harmed by a disease than by a vaccine.

WHO works closely with national authorities to ensure that global standards are developed and made readily available to assess the quality, safety and immunogenicity of biological products including vaccines.