PRETORIA – With parts of South Africa plodding out of the COVID-19 third wave, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that people aged between 18 and 34 will receive their jabs from 1 September. However, speculation and hesitancy on the vaccines’ efficacy remains amongst many South Africans who are eligible for the jab.
Health reporter at Bhekisisa Center of Health Journalism, Aisha Abdool Karim spoke to Salaamedia’s Julie Allie about the timeframe within which the vaccination was developed and how the vaccination works.
Abdool Karim believes that even though it was an unusual year in terms of scientific developments, global effort with the combination of the nature of the virus, the amount of funding and efforts that scientists have put in developing a vaccine has allowed the research to progress at a much quicker rate, without abandoning safety protocols usually observed.
“Some people are asymptomatic. So, they don’t realize they are already infected but there are some that get moderate to severe symptoms and those are the people that is a concern because we don’t know if the vaccine can stop you from getting infected with the virus to begin with. [However,] we do know that the vaccine can lessen the severity of the disease,” said Abdool Karim.
The vaccine was developed based on the first COVID-19 variant in 2020. When the virus mutates, there is a concern that the vaccine might be less effective, according to Abdool Karim.
Abdool Karim explained that the vaccine is meant to train your immune system on how it should protect itself by taking the virus in an activated form. A harmless version of the virus – which can’t actually replicate in a human body – is injected into a individual so that the immune system recognises it and responds to it in the form of antibodies and p-cells.
She assured that, despite being developed within a short timeframe, the COVID-19 vaccines have met all of the basic criteria.
“The virus is constantly changing so we need to take precautions and get vaccinated when you are eligible to get vaccinated as it is the best tool that we have against the pandemic,” she added.
Listen to the full discussion here:
