The covid-19 pandemic has created various challenges to humanity, and the virus is unlikely to be eradicated from the globe. Even if the virus remains endemic, it is now believed that enough people would develop immunological protection by vaccination and natural infection, leading in less transmission and a significant reduction in Covid-19-related hospitalizations and deaths. According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization, if 70% of the world's population is vaccinated, the pandemic's acute phase might be over by mid-2022, emphasising the importance of vaccine-induced immunity as the single most crucial component in terminating the pandemic.
Variable degrees of intervention, the unanticipated
introduction of Variants of Concern (VOC), as well as demographic and
environmental factors, are predicted to cause periodic surges in outbreak or
epidemic cases well above endemic levels.
Vaccines are one of the most effective medical
therapies available today, and they save millions of lives every year. Vaccines
have been crucial in the eradication of infectious illnesses since Edward
Jenner's initial application of a smallpox vaccine in 1796.
Vaccines work by teaching and training the immune
system and the body's natural defences to recognise and eliminate the viruses
and bacteria against which they are designed to protect. If the body is exposed
to disease-causing microorganisms after vaccination, it will be ready to kill
them right away, preventing illness. Vaccines are the most cost-effective and
straightforward means to prevent fatal epidemics, and they were critical in the
fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to World Health Organization's Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the pandemic's acute phase could be over by mid-2022 if
70% of the world's population gets vaccinated.
Re-exposure and the emergence of new strains are
presently driving the pandemic. Covid-19 immunizations may not be helpful in
preventing sickness after exposure to SARS CoV-2. The main benefits of these
immunizations are that they prevent symptomatic infection as well as the
development of serious infections that necessitate hospitalisation and
Covid-19-related death. Hospitalizations are avoided, health system burden is
reduced, long-term disability is avoided, and absence from work is reduced, all
of which are indirect economic benefits of severe symptomatic disease
prevention.
International organisations, notably the WHO, have
praised Pakistan's Covid-19 control approach. The disease was successfully
contained thanks to an excellent immunisation programme that was customised to
local needs (along with other non-pharmacological therapies). For healthcare
personnel, the aged, immunosuppressed (high-risk populations), and the general
public, seven different types of vaccines were rolled out in phases. All
vaccines were proven to be safe and effective, with few side effects.
Vaccinated people were shown to have a 7-fold lower risk of developing severe
symptomatic disease that required hospitalisation.
SARS CoV-2 immunity deteriorates with time, and
outbreaks have been documented in people who have completed the initial
immunisation series. The effectiveness of the vaccination against infection and
severe/critical disease has been proven to be restored with a subsequent additional
dosage of the vaccine (i.e. a booster dose). The first booster dosage should be
given five months after the primary series, and the second booster dose should
be given four months after the first.
As countries migrate to managing Covid -19 as an endemic
illness over time, the world may attain a long-term condition of disease
prevention comparable to that observed with flu vaccination, with annual or
twice-yearly booster doses. In the short term, a rapid deployment of Covid -19
booster dosages is likely to be one of the greatest defences against the new
VOC-fueled wave of the disease.
The pandemic to endemic shift will be complete when
total Covid-19 disease rates stabilise — neither rising nor falling. Endemism,
on the other hand, should not be considered a positive trait. Even though a
disease is endemic, it can still spread and kill people. Endemicity does not
imply that evolution has taken control of a pathogen and that life has reverted
to 'normal.' Nonetheless, endemic infections, like other infectious diseases
like measles, can generate disruptive waves.
SARS-persistence The creation of VOCs that resist
vaccine-induced immunity and re-entries from zoonotic reservoirs are factors
that will alter the virus's long-term behaviour and continued transmission in
distinct populations.
Due to the widespread infection rate and the magnitude
of cases, hospitalisation, and severe illness, the fourth dose of vaccination
is recommended for those aged 18 and older, those with pre-existing conditions
and risk factors for severe Covid-19 illness, their caregivers, and anyone else
at high risk of exposure to a confirmed Covid-19 patient in their line of work.
People who receive the fourth vaccine are twice as protected against illness as
those who receive the first three doses, and three to five times more protected
against a serious disease, according to a study. The first and second booster
doses are currently available in Pakistan for those who qualify. In order to
protect our people's health, guidelines, policies, and strategies are evaluated
and updated on a regular basis based on available international data.
0 Comments