Not required debate on vaccine superiority
Around this time last year, people all around the world were anxiously waiting for the Covid-19 vaccine.
The media was flooded with anticipatory news, updating us about the vaccines undergoing clinical trials in different countries, so much so that we all became clinical trial experts -- well oriented about the stages of vaccine research.
We would discuss which vaccine would be available first and so on so forth.
One year down the line, things have changed drastically.
Not one or two, but more than half a dozen Covid-19 vaccines are now available in the world and more are in the pipeline. The vaccine scenario has transformed and so has the challenge.
The challenge now is to ensure equal rights to vaccine for all global citizens. Rich and powerful countries have not only ensured more than enough vaccines for their people, they are also using jabs to expand their global influence.
A sharp contrast to this scenario is the situation prevailing in Bangladesh.
We started early and, despite a hiccup, have been doing well, considering we are one of the handful of countries in the world to embark on mass Covid-19 inoculation programmes without domestic vaccine production.
We have four different types of Covid-19 vaccines rolling in Bangladesh. And as goes with us in any case, many have become experts having different opinions for vaccines, claiming one is superior to the other.
The fact remains that none of these vaccines have undergone head-to-head clinical trial and therefore it is never possible to judge which is superior, and more importantly it is least required.
The one by AstraZeneca -- produced at Serum Institute of India -- is a modified adenovirus vector-based vaccine. This virus infects chimpanzees and produces flu like illness, but are harmless to humans.
It is modified in a way that when encountered, our immune system considers it as SARS-CoV-2 and produces antibody.
The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine uses a technology where actual SARS-CoV-2 viruses are inactivated and inside humans, though they are incapable of producing Covid-19, they produce protective antibodies.
The ones by Pfizer and Moderna use the newest and most advanced mRNA technology, where there is no virus at all. These are chemical substances, which when injected into humans instruct our immune system to produce protective antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
All the above vaccines are proven to be safe for human use and the benefits they confer outweigh the minimal adverse events that these may induce by thousands of kilometres.
Therefore, we should not waste our time choosing between vaccines and rather opt for the one that is on offer, because all vaccines protect.
The writer is Head of Interventional Hepatology Division, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and member of Strategic and Technical Advisory Group, WHO-SEAR.
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