KARACHI:The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved three vaccines till now; 1st is Sinopharm vaccine, 2nd is research project of Oxford University – Astrazeneca vaccine being produced by Serum Institute of India, and 3rd is Sputnik-V, manufactured by Russian State Institute.
This was informed by Dr Obaidullah, Director, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) while informing about the Covid-19 vaccine at the virtual seminar, titled “Reality or Myth of Covid-19 Vaccine” organized by Ziauddin University to raise awareness about the insight reality of Covid-19 vaccine.
He said that for health workers currently we are using the Sinopharm vaccine, soon we will get the Astrazeneca and also Russian Sputnik-V, vaccines. For the very first time in the history of Pakistan we have completed the phase three clinical trial of Sinopharm vaccine based on 18000 subjects.
While talking about the ingredients used in COVID-19 vaccine he said “in Pakistan the vaccine we are using has an inactivated, dead COVID-19 particle which develops the immunity response. Also, lung damage and death rate can also be controlled after getting a vaccine shot. All the Islamic countries like Saudia Arabia and UAE are using this. From the development to approval process of the vaccine it has been completed during the 10 months’ time period of pandemic. Which is the fastest development and clinical trial of any vaccine in the whole wide world.”
Whilst answering the question about the idea amount of vaccine shot to prevent Covid-19, Dr Osama Rehman Khalid, Consultant Infectious Disease, Dr Ziauddin Hospital said “the vaccine we are using in Pakistan have two shots to prevent, one from the beginning and the second shot after three weeks of the first shot. But other countries of the world are using different kinds of vaccines and each dose of vaccine varies from vaccine to vaccine.”
“Clinical trials of the vaccine were started in July 2020 and still going on, nobody knows about the effectiveness of the vaccine and how long it will stay so it’s not the right time to take risk for our lives by avoiding safety measurements. We cannot evade SOPs until 80-90% of the whole population gets vaccinated”, explained Dr. Osama Rehman Khalid.
“Three main reasons for getting vaccinated; 1) it will stop the rapid spread of Covid-19, 2) there are still some chances of a vaccinated person to catch Covid-19 but the vaccine will change the nature of Covid-19. As there would be no complications or death fear for the vaccinated Covid-19 patient. Also, it wouldn’t be as severe as it is before the vaccine. Vaccines immunity decreases with the passage of time. Those who already suffer with the Covid-19 are supposed to get vaccine shots after the two weeks of getting a negative report from Covid-19”, Dr Osama carried out.
While answering the question about the age group recommendation for vaccines he said “vaccine is highly recommended for the people above 18 years old. According to the research trials of vaccines it has been tested successfully between the age group of 18-60-year-old. Whereas, the age group above 60 has been told to get vaccinated on their risk. As for now, the positive data of the following age group vaccine trial has not been found yet.”
“Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are not recommended to get vaccine’s shot because pregnant and breastfeeding mothers were not part of the clinical trial of Covid-19 vaccine. But it varies from situation to situation. As there were few females who got pregnant after a few months of getting vaccinated and we didn’t get any reported problems in those pregnant women.” He was talking about the safety of vaccines for pregnant women or a breastfeeding mother.
Dr Bushra Jamil, President, The Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan, on question about the side effects of vaccines said that there are very minor side effects like local pain, fever, eyesight effect which is typical of any vaccine. No major reported side effects for this vaccine have been observed.
“People need to clear this misconception that vaccines will change their DNA. No, it will not. No chances of getting infected. It’s a regular viral infection so it does not affect the immune system in any way which would predispose to development of any infection” she added.
While motivating the public for vaccine Dr Nida Hussain, Pro Chancellor Ziauddin University said “We need to motivate public to go and get their part of vaccine shot it’s not harmful, it doesn’t have any major side effects, it is for your safety and for your loved one’s safety, those who are afraid of vaccine and have some misconception regarding vaccine, should keep in mind that this vaccine that we are using in Pakistan has been through strict clinical trials and got succeeded for masses”.