Coronaviruses are a family of viruses which will cause respiratory disease in humans. They get their name, “corona,” from the many crown-like spikes on the surface of the virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the common cold are examples of coronaviruses that cause illness in humans.
The number of people infected changes daily. Organizations that collect this information, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre’s for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are gathering information and continuously learning more about this outbreak. Unlike bacteria, viruses cannot replicate, produce energy, or perform other essential biological functions without a living host. By most definitions of life, viruses, just like the one that causes COVID-19, aren't alive in the least.
Nevertheless, this virus has affected our lives in dramatic and sometimes immeasurable ways.
Vaccines work by training and preparing the body’s natural defences – the system – to acknowledge and repel the viruses and bacteria they aim. After vaccination, if the body is later exposed to those disease-causing germs, the body is immediately ready to destroy them, preventing illness.
As of 18 February 2021, at least seven different vaccines across three platforms have been rolled out in countries. Vulnerable populations in all countries are the highest priority for vaccination. Scientists from across the world are collaborating and innovating to bring us tests, treatments and vaccines that will collectively save lives and end this pandemic.
The first bulk vaccination programme started in early December 2020 and as of and as of 15 February 2021, 175.3 million vaccine doses have been administered. At least 7 diverse vaccines (3 platforms) are administered.
Covid19 Status: Globally as of 14th April 2021 there have been 136,739,552 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,947,244 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 12 April 2021, a total of 732,981,684 vaccine doses have been administered.
Total Cases in India: 13.9M +184K
Recovered: 12.3M + 82,339
Deaths: 172K + 1,027
Different Vaccines available in different countries:
The vaccine roll out is so important to a world fed up with the Covid-19 scare that everything has begun to depend on the supply and effectiveness of a vaccine that promises to stem the surge in coronavirus afflictions.
No certified vaccine existed for Covid 19 until few months ago the united kingdom jumped ahead in the global race to begin mass inoculation against Covid 19 by issuing an “Emergency use approval” on 2nd Dec 2020 EUA for Pfizer – BioNTech vaccine, there has been a flurry of developments and suddenly there are a host of vaccines being rolled out throughout the world.
INDIA: COVAXIN by Bharat Biotech is developed in collaboration with the ICMR. The vaccine is developed using Whole- Virion Inactivated Vero cell derived platform technology. Inactive vaccines do not replicate and are therefore unlikely to revert and cause pathological effects. They comprehend dead virus, incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection. India has administered 9,01,98,673 total doses of the Covid 19 Vaccine. Of this 7,87,63,027 were first doses while 1,1,35,646 were second doses.
Cost involved in the role of WHO:
The union ministry of health and family welfare fixed the cost of Covid 19 vaccines to be offered to those who are above 60 years and people over 45 years will specify comorbidities at Rs. 250 /- per shot in private hospitals.
USA, Canada, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, Europe are using Pfizer Vaccine.
BRITAIN safeguarded 40 million doses of the vaccine and has already begun inoculation.
RUSSIA ordered health authorities to begin mass vaccination of its own Sputnik V Vaccine just a day after UK’s announcement.
Argentina: Argentina president has announced his administration signed an agreement with Russia to receive the Sputnik V Vaccine against Covid-19.
Bahrain has approved China’s Sinopharm vaccine as it had participated in phase III clinical trials, in which more than 7,700 volunteers signed up. Indonesia, Pakistan also signed up for the same vaccine.
How does the Covid vaccine work?
The COVID-19 vaccines produce protection against the disease, as a result of evolving an immune response to the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Increasing immunity through vaccination means there's a reduced risk of developing the illness and its consequences. This immunity helps you fight the virus if unprotected.
To understand how COVID-19 vaccines work, it helps to first look at how our bodies fight infection. When germs, like the virus that causes COVID-19, invade our bodies, they attack and multiply. This incursion, called an infection, is what causes illness. Our system uses several tools to fight infection. Blood encompasses red cells, which carry oxygen to tissues and organs, and white or immune cells, which fight infection. Different kinds of white blood cells fight infection in different ways:
• Macrophages
• B-lymphocytes
• T-lymphocytes
Types of Vaccines:
• mRNA vaccines contain extensive from the virus that causes COVID-19 which gives our cells instructions for how to make a harmless protein that is unique to the virus. After our cells make duplicates of the protein, they destroy the genetic material from the vaccine. Our bodies distinguish that the protein should not be there and build T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 if we are infected in the future.
• Protein subunit vaccines consist of harmless pieces (proteins) of the virus that causes COVID-19 instead of the entire germ. Once vaccinated, our bodies recognize that the protein should not be there and build T-lymphocytes and antibodies that will remember how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 if we are infected in the future.
• Vector vaccines comprise a altered version of a different virus than the one that causes COVID-19.
Inside the shell of the altered virus, there is material from the virus that causes COVID-19. This is called a “viral vector.” Once the viral vector is inside our cells, the genetic material gives cells directives to make a protein that is unique to the virus that causes COVID-19. Using these directives, our cells make copies of the protein. This prompts our bodies to create T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes which will remember the way to fight that virus if we are infected within the future.
Women’s may experience Stronger Side Effects to COVID-19 Vaccines:
• Researchers at the CDC say women tend to have stronger side effects to COVID-19 vaccines than men.
• Experts say this isn’t unusual with vaccinations because the estrogen in women’s bodies is designed to elicit a stronger immune response.
• They enhance that women still shouldn’t hesitate to get the COVID-19 vaccine because the potential consequences of the disease are far worse than the vaccination side effects.
A report by Trusted Foundation released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of the first 13.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses given to Americans, reports of side effects were approaching at a higher rate from females.
In fact, 79 % of side effects reported came from women, although only 61 % of the vaccines were given to women.
A stronger response from women to other vaccinations has been seen for years.
What is the reason?
Experts suspect that in women, particularly premenopausal women, the amount of estrogen help activate the immune reaction to illness and, therefore, to vaccines.
Men, on the opposite hand, have more testosterone, a hormone which will somewhat dampen or hamper an equivalent response.
Simply put, women, in universal, have a stronger response to vaccines because their bodies are quicker and stronger when it comes to activating what the vaccine introduces in the body.
“Infectious diseases, in general, are always about the immune response and not the bug,” said Dr. Larry Schlesinger, president, and chief military officer of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio.
“In women, there's an exuberant and stronger response [to many vaccines],” he told Health line. “There’s actually a lot of science behind this.”
In the past, Schlesinger said, a sturdier response in females has been seen and studied in vaccines for yellow fever, DPT, influenza, and other illnesses.
Schlesinger said estrogen encourages the body to produce more T-cells, the reactor cells that defend us when a vaccine is introduced.
Thus, he said, we see the faster and stronger response many women experiences.