COVID-19 Will any vaccines besides the COVID-19 vaccines protect me against COVID-19? So far, we don’t know. Researchers are exploring the possibility that existing vaccines (for example, the anti-tuberculosis Bacille Calmette-Guérin [BCG] vaccine) offer some protection. Can I get infected with COVID-19 after I’m vaccinated? The answer is more complicated than you might think. The research into the efficacy of vaccines testedwhether or not they prevent disease, not whether or not you can become infected. At the moment, we’re not sure whether the vaccines protect against infection (although they do provide protection against severe illness that results in hospitalization and death). If I get infected after I’m vaccinated, can I pass the infection along to someone else? We don’t yet have the answer to this question. Until we do know, it’s best to err on the side of caution − continue to wear masks, practise social distancing and wash your hands. What is “herd immunity”? Herd immunity, also known as “population immunity,” occurs when the number of people immune to an infectious disease stops the disease from spreading through the population. A person becomes immune either through becoming infected with the disease or through vaccination. For a serious disease such as COVID-19, it’s obviously better to achieve herd immunity through vaccination. Allowing the disease to spread unchecked would mean that many people would get very sick and some would die. What percentage of the population has to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity? The answer is different for every disease. Measles requires 95% of people to be vaccinated in order to prevent infection from spreading, while for polio, the figure is 80%. For COVID-19, we don’t yet know the proportion of the population which needs to be vaccinated to prevent its spread. Until we do know, it’s important for as many people as possible to be vaccinated. Why don’t we just vaccinate 100% of the population? Some people can’t be vaccinated because of health conditions, such as being allergic to a vaccine or its ingredients. What are some of the underlying conditions or other factors that make people likely to experience severe illness when infected with COVID-19? Age, asthma, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, damaged or scarred lung tissue, dementia, diabetes, Down syndrome, heart conditions (heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, high blood pressure), HIV infection, weakened immune system, chronic liver disease, overweight and obesity, pregnancy, pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs), sickle cell disease, smoking (current or past), stroke, transplantation and substance use (drugs). Can COVID-19 vaccines give me COVID-19? No, because they do not contain the virus that causes COVID-19. CSANews | SUMMER 2021 | 43
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