COVID-19: Why do we need vaccination

16:16, 19 марта 2021, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Anastasia BENGARD

Sinopharm, a Chinese vaccine against coronavirus, will arrive in Kyrgyzstan today. It will only be enough for 75,000 people. Delivery of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is expected in the near future, as well as vaccines within COVAX initiative.

Doctors, teachers and other persons who have mass contacts during work will be vaccinated first. Vaccination, according to the Ministry of Health, is voluntary. Those who wish can refuse it. An epidemiologist Aleksey Kravtsov told 24.kg news agency why it is necessary to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

— This is the only way to contain the epidemic, a way to control infections, especially with airborne transmission. Restrictive measures will not help here.

— Many citizens are afraid of possible side effects after vaccination. Are there any grounds for worrying?

— Any vaccine is a drug and can have side effects on the body, because we are all individuals. Even if you take a super-advanced drug, there will always be individuals among the population who will develop some kind of allergy or other side effects.

In this case, pharmacologists divide them into mild and life-threatening ones.

There is not a single safe drug, including vaccines.

Aleksey Kravtsov

But this is not a reason for anyone else to refuse vaccination. In any case, vaccines are being improved, modified, studied.

— How much can we trust the vaccines that will arrive in Kyrgyzstan?

— They are tested according to stringent protocols based on international rules. Russia has published an article in The Lancet on the same Sputnik V. It is the most peer-reviewed medical journal in the world. They have declared safety and efficacy of this vaccine.

But I know that we are not able to trace any long-term consequences of use of any of the currently existing COVID-19 vaccines. This is simply not possible now.

— Do we have to necessarily get two doses of the vaccine?

— Yes, this is a must.

— Are there any data on duration of immunity after vaccination?

— The data is being updated all the time, since a little more than a year has passed since emergence of the virus. No one can say you for sure today. At first, they said about two months, but the more we live with this virus, the more this figure grows.

— Coronavirus is constantly mutating. Will the vaccines be effective when new mutations appear?

— No, they will not. If a completely new type of coronavirus appears, then these vaccines will, most likely, not work against it. Vaccines are specific for the protein that was taken from the original strains of the virus.

Earlier it was reported that a completely new strain has emerged in South Africa, which is completely different from the strains existing and circulating in the world.

It’s like the flu virus. It is constantly transforming, so people are vaccinated annually. By the way, the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation has already mentioned this.

— How was Kyrgyzstan able to maintain a low incidence rate for a long time, given the massive disregard for wearing of masks and other sanitary standards?

— Number of people sufficient to reduce the spread of the virus in human population have already had it in our country.

The World Health Organization, together with our specialists, is conducting the second stage of sero-epidemiological study. The first was held from July to October 2020.

The data obtained will show the level of community immunity. The real statistics are, of course, much higher than the official ones, since many infected people did not turn to health care institutions.

— Can you predict how long the pandemic will last?

— No, I can not.

— Does it make sense to reintroduce any restrictions and quarantine in case of an increase in the incidence?

— No, it does not. A good reason for imposing the initial hard lockdown was preparation of the medical network for admission of a possible large number of sick citizens. But it all failed, as the summer 2020 showed.

Nowadays this is not necessary: ​​more than half of the republic’s residents have probably already been infected. The spread rate has slowed down. But the statistics will differ depending on the region.

— The incidence has been growing again in recent days. When should we expect the third wave?

— I can’t say for sure, but, pray God the increase in the number of cases is small. There has already been a significant increase in the fall, but there was no recurrence of the July situation.