Explanation Essay :
Taking the Coronavirus Vaccine

Today, people in our school have been arguing about what the vaccine is. There has been chaos and frenzy for days and it needs to stop. There have also been many mixed thoughts about the vaccine; some people support it while others are in the middle and some do not support it. What is it?

Moving on to the first point, vaccines are highly protective for us. According to studies, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are highly effective (95% and 94%) for protection against COVID-19. According to surveys, 3 – 4 shots are extremely effective against Omicron. While the 3rd one is called a booster. Using data from Discovery Health, a South African managed care organisation, we estimated the vaccine effectiveness of two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine (i.e., full vaccination) against hospitalisation for Covid-19 caused by the omicron variant by analysing data sets that included the results of polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) assays, preauthorization admission data, a full history of members’ medical records, registrations regarding chronic diseases, and data regarding body-mass index to obtain the number of Covid-19 risk factors per patient, according to the guidelines of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).3 Vaccination status was determined from claims data in the private sector, and patients who had been vaccinated in the public sector were listed in a vaccine category called “other vaccine type” (Table S4). Among fully vaccinated members, we compared the vaccine effectiveness against Covid-19 hospitalisation associated with the omicron variant during the period from November 15 to December 7 in South Africa. South Africa.

They used test-negative design and data-exclusion rules to obtain estimates of vaccine effectiveness4 (Table S1), according to the following formula: 1−odds ratio for Covid-19 hospitalisation in the vaccinated population, where the odds ratio was calculated with the use of logistic regression after adjustment for confounders of age and previous Covid-19 infection, surveillance week, geographic location, and the number of CDC risk factors. In this analysis, Covid-19 hospitalisation was a dependent variable, and vaccination status was included as an independent variable. For children aged 5 to 11, clinical trial results showed the Pfizer vaccine was 90.7% effective against getting COVID-19 symptoms, and no participants developed severe COVID-19.

Covid 19 Sample

Pfizer has reported 100% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 infection in the 12- to 15-year-old age group – with a higher antibody response than was seen in the 16- to 25-year-old age group. Clinical trials showed the Pfizer vaccine (Comirnaty) had a higher efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 infection after receiving the second dose. This is supported by recent real-world data.The first dose ‘primes’ your immune system but protection doesn’t last as long because the level of antibodies falls. A second dose gives your immune response a boost – with lots more antibodies to help your immune response to mature and provide longer protection. The recommended time between the two doses is 3 weeks or more. You won’t have the full protection of the vaccine until you’ve received your second dose. If you get your second dose later than this you’ll still be fully vaccinated – you don’t need to restart the vaccine course. The Pfizer vaccine (Comirnaty) is effective at reducing the number of people who get COVID-19. It’s harder to find out how well the vaccine stops people passing on (transmitting) the COVID-19 virus. Recent studies show that the Pfizer vaccine can reduce transmission of the virus. These studies looked at the number of people infected with COVID-19 after they’d been vaccinated and their close contacts.

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The efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine was tested in about 44,000 participants aged 16 years and over where COVID-19 was already circulating in communities. About half of these participants were randomised to receive the vaccine and the other half received a saline placebo.The trial looked at how many people got COVID-19 symptoms after they were vaccinated compared to how many got COVID-19 after getting the placebo. Participants had two doses of the vaccine or placebo, getting their second dose within 19 to 42 days after their first dose. They were then closely monitored and evaluated for at least 2 months after their second dose.

The study’s design enabled the researchers to directly compare the effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in a real-world setting, in diverse subgroups, and across different periods when the Alpha or Delta variants were predominant. The large size of the study population also allowed researchers to provide precise estimates for severe COVID-19 outcomes. The study confirms that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are highly effective, with low risks of breakthrough infections and other COVID-19 outcomes.

Onto the second point, according to early randomised trials, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have demonstrated more than 90% effectiveness for preventing symptomatic COVID-19. However, the vaccines’ comparative effectiveness for a range of outcomes, across diverse populations, and against the Delta variant was unknown.

Using data from the VA’s healthcare databases, the team analysed the electronic health records of one group of 219,842 U.S. veterans who received the Pfizer vaccine and another group of 219,842 veterans who received the Moderna vaccine between January 4 and May 14, 2021. The researchers documented the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections, symptomatic COVID-19 cases, and COVID-19-related hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths. During a 24-week follow-up period when the Alpha variant was predominant, the estimated risk of infection was 5.75 infections per 1,000 persons for the Pfizer vaccine group and 4.52 infections per 1,000 persons for the Moderna vaccine group. The risk over a 12-week period when the Delta variant was predominant was an additional 6.54 infections per 1,000 persons in the Pfizer group.

Compared with those who received the Moderna vaccine, recipients of the Pfizer vaccine had a 27% higher risk of documented SARS-CoV-2 infection and a 70% higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation when Alpha was the predominant variant. During a 12-week period when the Delta variant was predominant, the risk of documented infection was also slightly higher in the Pfizer group. Nevertheless, both of them are extremely useful and effective against Omicron. 2 shots were effective against Delta. Is that all? Of course, not.

Onto the third point, scientists analysed 133,437 PCR test results that had been obtained during the comparator period, of which 38,155 (28.6%) had been obtained at least 14 days after the patient had received the second dose of vaccine. For the proxy omicron period, we analysed 78,173 PCR test results, of which 32,325 (41.4%) had been obtained at least 14 days after the second dose (Table 1). The overall test positivity was 6.4% during the comparator period and 24.4% during the proxy omicron period, whereas the Covid-19 admission rate was 10.8% and 2.2%, respectively, as a percentage of positive PCR test results. Patients with positive cases were younger during the proxy omicron period than during the comparator period Thus, during the proxy omicron period, we saw a maintenance of effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine (albeit at a reduced level) against hospital admission for Covid-19 that was presumed to have been caused by the omicron variant as compared with the rate associated with the delta variant earlier in the year. The addition of a booster dose of vaccine may mitigate this reduction in vaccine effectiveness.

In conclusion, taking the vaccine is crucial as it offers so many benefits  and boosts and helps us defend against the virus. Thank you for listening.