Nowadays, the most important thing to ask when you finally get to catch up with your friends – online, of course – is none other than…
Have you been fully vaccinated yet?
Sadly, some of your friends may not even be able to obtain a fully vaccinated status because their bodies just rejected the vaccine like how Singaporeans reject staying away from free things.
If you’re one of those people, fret not, however.
You might still be able to enjoy the relaxed measures that come along with being fully vaccinated soon with another option.
Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna VS Sinovac
If you suddenly found yourself experiencing allergic reactions once the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine entered your veins during the first dose, you may not have been able to take the second dosage required for full vaccination status.
However, that doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to take another vaccine again.
There’s one thing that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have in common, and that’s being vaccines that use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.
Simply put, with the entrance of the mRNA, it shows your body’s cells how to create a protein that will build an immune response against the virus.
Watch this video to the end to understand how it works:
On the other hand, the Sinovac vaccine involves the use of inactive coronavirus particles, which have already been killed, to trigger antibody protection in your body – like fighting fire with fire.
So essentially, that means that even if your body said no to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines that were offered to you as part of Singapore’s vaccination program, you can still try again with Sinovac.
Those With Allergic Reactions Can Take Sinovac To Be Fully Vaccinated
Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary announced on 2 Aug that individuals who experienced allergic reactions to the two vaccines administered here during the first dose have been invited to take Sinovac instead.
If you complete both doses of the Sinovac vaccine, which was approved for use here under the special access route, thereafter, you’ll receive fully vaccinated status.
Sounds good, right?
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has also set up a designated programme for such individuals since July, where they can receive the full two doses of the Sinovac jab at clinics in public hospitals.
This is so that they can be closely monitored in case of any adverse side effects occurring once again considering their history, as well as the lack of safety data regarding taking the Sinovac vaccine after one dose of an mRNA vaccine.
Currently, 5,000 people have been contacted by the MOH to take part in this, and over 2,000 people have indicated their interest as of 28 July.
So, essentially, those who have taken three doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be considered to have been fully vaccinated.
MOH added that they will also “work with these individuals to monitor their immunity responses, and better understand such heterologous vaccination strategies.”
Novavax Vaccine Also Available Soon
Yep, new vaccines continue to be popping up like new Avengers additions.
In case you haven’t heard, a new vaccine, Novavax, had been purchased in advance by Singapore earlier in January this year.
The vaccine, which hails from the United States, has been shown to have a high efficacy rate against the virus.
It’s also rather special, for the vaccine is protein-based, unlike Sinovac’s deactivated virus technology and Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s mRNA technology.
What they do instead is clone a modified version of the COVID-19 gene spike protein to make a virus that infects insects, inject it into moth cells, and use the resulting coronavirus spike protein nanoparticles that it produces for the vaccine.
How fascinating science is, huh?
Singapore expects to receive the first doses of the Novavax vaccine at the end of the year, which is still being reviewed by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) following Novavax’s ongoing regulatory submissions.
If those who are allergic to the mRNA vaccines wish to wait to take the Novavax vaccine in place of the Sinovac vaccine, they will also be given the option to do so.
Hopefully, this will mean another stepping stone towards an endemic.
Read Also:
- What’s an Endemic Disease (Which COVID-19 Will Be): Differences Between Endemic, Epidemic & Pandemic
- More People, Including People Who Are Severely Immunocompromised, Can Now Take COVID-19 Vaccines
Featured Image: rafapress / Shutterstock.com
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