Post-vaccination positive cases surface across world

LAHORE: Post-vaccination Covid-19 positive cases have surfaced across the world while there are calls by experts that vaccination should be declared compulsory and sentences or fines should be imposed on denial for vaccination. To stop the virus from spreading, 70 to 90 percent population should be vaccinated because it reduced 90 percent infections, said experts. Israeli experts said the people, found positive with post-vaccination infection, experienced lower intensity of Covid-19.

Reports said Pfizer has 95 percent efficacy against the virus, Moderna has 95 percent, AstraZeneca (Oxford) has 70 percent, Johnson and Johnson has 66 percent, Russian Sputnik-V has 92 percent, Chinese Sinopharm has 79 percent and India’s Covaxin has 81 percent efficacy against the virus. More than hundred Indian doctors, Argentinean president, members of US Congress, US basketball coach and bollywood actors have tested corona positive even after being vaccinated. Meanwhile, 246 people from Michigan tested positive after being vaccinated and among them three above 65 had died.

Indian Covaxin was being used in 71 countries, Chinese vaccines in more than 60 countries and Russian vaccines in 40 countries. In Pakistan, three Chinese vaccines, one British and one Russian vaccine have been allowed for use.

Prime minister of Pakistan also tested positive that raised questions on the efficacy of Sinopharm. As compared to Western vaccines, Sinopharm’s trials were not that effective, while little clinical data was also available. To question if a COVID-19 vaccine can make one sick with COVID-19, experts denied it, saying none of the authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 vaccines currently in development in the United States contain the live virus that causes COVID-19. This means that a COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19. There are several different types of vaccines in development. All of them teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Sometimes this process can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. They say it typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity (protection against the virus that causes COVID-19) after vaccination. That means it’s possible a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and still get sick. This is because the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.

They said neither the recently authorized and recommended vaccines nor the other COVID-19 vaccines currently in clinical trials in the United States can cause one to test positive on viral tests, which are used to see if one has a current infection.? "If your body develops an immune response—the goal of vaccination—there is a possibility you may test positive on some antibody tests." Antibody tests indicate you had a previous infection and that you may have some level of protection against the virus. Experts are currently looking at how COVID-19 vaccination may affect antibody testing results.

To the question if one already had COVID-19 and recovered, if he or she still needed to get vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, experts said yes, one should be vaccinated regardless of whether one already had COVID-19. That’s because experts do not yet know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19. Even if you have already recovered from COVID-19, it is possible—although rare—that you could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 again. They said one were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, he or she should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Experts are still learning more about how long vaccines protect against COVID-19 in real-world conditions. They confirm that COVID-19 vaccination protects one from getting sick with COVID-19 by teaching your immune system how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19, and this protects one from getting sick with COVID-19. Being protected from getting sick is important because even though many people with COVID-19 have only a mild illness, others may get a severe illness, have long-term health effects, or even die. There is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you, even if you don’t have an increased risk of developing severe complications.

They say COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with one's DNA in any way. Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for Covid-19 after receiving his first vaccination two days ago. A little over two months after receiving the Russian-made Sputnik V, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Indian actress Nagma had taken the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination on April 2 but tested positive. “Had taken my first dose of vaccine a few days ago. Tested for Covid-19, my test has come positive so quarantined myself at home. All please take care and take necessary precautions. Even after taking the first dose of the vaccine do not get complacent in any way manner. Stay safe," wrote Nagma.

March saw a massive hike in the COVID-19 cases in India. Several Bollywood celebrities including Alia Bhatt, Akshay Kumar, and Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, Katrina Kaif and others have also tested positive in this second wave of COVID-19.

Besides, as many as 40 Indian doctors, including Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen (retd) Vipin Puri, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at Lucknow's King George's Medical University (KGMU). The Vice-Chancellor was administered the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine on March 25, yet he has now tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time since August last year. Commenting on the situation, KGMU's Sandeep Tewari said, "During the last four days, around 40 doctors, including medical superintendent Himanshu, have tested positive." Most of the doctors have tested positive despite taking both the doses of vaccine.

The heads of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Medanta hospital and Era Medical college have already tested positive for COVID-19 even after getting vaccinated. Senior BJP leader Jagdambika Pal also tested positive after he complained of fever.

In Uttar Pradesh, the new deaths included Professor Brajesh Shukla of the Lucknow University, a recipient of the Padma Shri award, and chief pharmacist of police lines, RK Chaudhary. Lucknow has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot.

At least three members of US Congress recently tested positive for the coronavirus even though they have already received one or both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. They included Adriano Espaillat, Stephen Lynch, Lori Trahan. But it was also reported in people in other walks of life, too, including Rick Pitino, a Hall of Fame basketball coach, and a nurse in California. Two hundred and forty six Michigan residents have tested positive for Covid-19 after being fully vaccinated, three of whom have died.

Health officials in the state stressed that a small proportion of people take longer than two weeks to develop antibodies after their second shot. Those who caught Covid after both jabs also could have caught Covid prior to vaccination or in the gap between the two shots.

Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, told The Detroit News that the cases were reported between 1 January and 31 March and that all of them had a positive test at least two weeks after getting their final vaccine dose.

She said: "Some of these individuals may ultimately be excluded from this list due to continuing to test positive from a recent infection prior to being fully vaccinated."

Experts say cases like these are not surprising and do not indicate that there was something wrong with the vaccines or how they were administered.

They said vaccines don’t work instantly. It takes a few weeks for the body to build up immunity after receiving a dose. And the vaccines now in use in the United States, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both require a second shot a few weeks after the first to reach full effectiveness.

Nor do they work retroactively. You can already be infected and not know it when you get the vaccine — even if you recently tested negative. That infection can continue to develop after you get the shot but before its protection fully takes hold, and then show up in a positive test result.

They said vaccines prevent illness, but maybe not infection. Covid vaccines are being authorized based on how well they keep you from getting sick, needing hospitalization and dying. Scientists don’t know yet how effective the vaccines are at preventing the coronavirus from infecting you to begin with, or at keeping you from passing it on to others. (That is why vaccinated people should keep wearing masks and maintaining social distance.)

Also, even the best vaccines aren’t perfect. The efficacy rates for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are extremely high, but they are not 100%. With the virus still spreading out of control in the United States, some of the millions of recently vaccinated people were bound to get infected in any case.

Three Chinese drug firms are engaged in producing vaccines for Covid-19 and all of them have faced criticism for not making a full disclosure about their phase 3 trial results, prompting the former chief of the China Food and Drug Administration, Bi Jingquan, to ask these forms to provide more data on the trials.

Vaccine experts around the globe have advised against Sinopharm, with the Shanghai-based doctor Tao Lina calling it the "most unsafe vaccine in the world". In February this year, the Egyptian Health and Population Ministry issued a list of potential side-effects from the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine-pain, redness, stiffness and itching at the area of the vaccination, increase in body temperature and more.

Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, which produces Sinopharm, has been accused of supplying 400,520 substandard doses of diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough vaccines for infants in 2018 and also of having forged data related to the production of 113,000 rabies vaccines by the Chinese drug controller, a website reported.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation said recently that the vaccine "lacked data in older age groups and in persons with co-morbidities".

To make matters worse, one of the volunteers in Peru died after being injected with the Sinopharm vaccine, while one of the volunteers developed severe neurological side-effects associated with Guillain-Barre syndrome that causes nerve damage and often paralysis, during a clinical trial. All trials of the vaccine have been halted since then. However, there are no reports in the media of serious side effects in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that compulsory vaccinations are legal and may be necessary in democratic countries to end the coronavirus pandemic. The Strasbourg-based court was answering a complaint brought by Czech families regarding mandatory jabs for children. The court ruled: “The measures could be regarded as being necessary in a democratic society." Legal experts said the decision could pave the way for governments introducing compulsory vaccinations against coronavirus.

Of the 71 countries, at least 37 have got the vaccines free, 17 through Covax, many a combination of these two and commercial sales.

In effect, India has supplied vaccines to at least 50pc of the Least Developed (LDC) countries and one third of the Small Island Developing (SID) countries. These are the two major small-country groupings who have an influential voice at the United Nations. Significantly, according to Duke University’s Global Health Institute, developed countries with 16% of the world’s population, including Canada, US and UK — each of whom have guaranteed enough supplies to vaccinate their populations several times over – have secured 60% of global vaccine supplies for themselves. Other countries commandeering supplies exceeding their domestic needs include Australia, Chile, and several European Union members. As of early March, China — according to Chinese media outlet Caixin — has exported vaccines to 28 countries.

With studies showing it's 95 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been highly sought after, despite the difficulty in transporting and storing it at below-freezing temperatures. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine had been rolled out across dozens of countries, but its use was now being limited in some areas after it was linked to a rare side effect causing deadly blood clots.

Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca are approved for use in Australia, with the federal government recommending AstraZeneca be limited to people over the age of 50.

Other coronavirus vaccines in use around the world include the US-manufactured Moderna, China's Sinovac, also known as CoronaVac, and Sinopharm, Russia's Sputnik V and the Johnson & Johnson's Janssen.

Alberto Giubilini, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford says COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory – at least for certain groups. This means there would be penalties for failure to vaccinate, such as fines or limitations on freedom of movement.