Covid-19 vaccine facts

The media provides plenty of information about the available vaccines in South Africa. Please ensure that you follow reputable sources such as the National Department of Health (www.health.gov.za), the South African Coronavirus News and Information website (www.sacoronavirus.co.za), the World Health Organization (www.who.int), or similar. Here are a few of the most important facts:

• The vaccines don't give you the virus. Rather, they teach your immune system to recognise the virus and to fight the infection.
• You are not protected from the moment you have received the vaccine. It will take 2-3 weeks for your immune system to be fully prepared.
• The vaccines can't completely prevent you from getting Covid-19. Rather, they reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalisation and death.
• It doesn't matter which vaccine you are getting. All vaccines available in South Africa were proven to be safe and effective in rigorous clinical trials.
• Depending on which vaccine you are getting, you might need one or two doses which are administered a few weeks or months apart.
• The risk of blood clots after getting the J&J vaccine is less than one in a million. The chances of developing blood clots in ICU due to Covid-19, is 30 out of every 100.
• As with any other medication or vaccine, you might or might not get side effects after receiving the vaccine. Both are considered normal and are no indication on the effectiveness of the vaccine for your body. Most common side effects could be headaches, body aches and fever for 24-48 hours.
• The risk of the disease far outweighs the risk associated with being vaccinated.
• We don't know yet how long protection from a vaccine lasts and how effective the vaccines are to possible future variations of the virus. It is likely that we will get regular Covid-19 vaccinations in the future (similar to flu vaccines).
• You should still get vaccinated even if you have had
• Covid-19. Presently, we don't know how long immunity lasts or how strong your immunity would be against re-infection to the current or new variants.
• If you had other vaccines recently, such as the flu vaccine, consult with your healthcare provider as there should be 2 to 3 weeks between the administration of the flu and Covid-19 vaccines.

Sources: PubMed, sacoronavirus.co.za

Published: May 2021