Health experts dispel public misperceptions

ISLAMABAD: The Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, Sinopharm, will begin to be administered to people of 60 years of age and above in the first phase of inoculation starting across Pakistan on Wednesday.

The Chinese vaccine is being administered first because there has been a delay in the delivery of the COVAX donation of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Meanwhile, misgivings about the vaccine prevail among a large number of people, dissuading them from coming forward to register for vaccination via the designated 1166 helpline. As a result, the scale of registration has so far been far below estimates.

A few elderly persons, who have been asked to get inoculated on the first day of the drive, voiced their apprehensions about the vaccine. Some of them consulted their family doctors, who gave them a go-ahead saying that they would not face any adverse reaction due to this immunization.

Top health professionals and experts dismissed what they termed the general misperceptions about the coronavirus vaccines. Renowned Pulmonologist Dr Shazli Manzoor told The News that people must take advantage of the shots of the available Covid-19 vaccine, Sinopharm, which has been tested and its efficacy proven. He said there were no major side-effects of the inoculation.

While ‘local’ issues such as body ache, fever, flu and sneezing may be experienced by vaccinated persons in rare cases, these are temporary and nobody should worry too much about them. He said people who have experienced the nightmare of Covid-19 should also get inoculated because there is a possibility of the re-occurrence of the coronavirus. He recommended an antibody test before vaccination.

Professor Dr Saeed Akhtar told this correspondent that people should not hesitate to get vaccinated as there is no evidence available about any major adverse reaction. “I believe that any vaccine which is available now can be used.”

He pointed out that the government has delayed the purchase of vaccines while countries like Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and some others have already secured large consignments and inoculated people. The vaccination drive should have been started much earlier, he said.

Akhtar said the private sector was allowed by the government to import the vaccines but it would not be able to purchase the commodity in large quantities because every country in the world was working hard to get it at the earliest. Additionally, the price that the private importers would charge would be prohibitive for the general public.

Parliamentary Secretary on Health Dr Nausheen Hamid, when approached, confirmed to The News that Sinopharm would be administered to senior citizens from Wednesday at numerous designated centres throughout Pakistan. She said some 580 points had been planned to be set up for inoculation all over the country. Such centres would be established even at the tehsil headquarters level subject to the existence of storage facilities there. The centres have been activated for vaccination in areas where people have got themselves registered for immunization.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan also got the same vaccine jab himself, the parliamentary secretary said, adding that Sinopharm was being used in several countries of the world including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Even the Dubai ruler had been administered this vaccine.