THE arrival and subsequent launch of the Covid-19 vaccine should generate relief among the citizenry, knowing too well that the third wave may emerge as Zambia gets to the winter season.
Currently, there is no cure for this pandemic, which originated from China in 2019, hence the vaccine has come in handy.
The global community has for two years been grappling with this devastating disease and it is time Zambians accepted the fact that it is imperative to take the vaccine.
Yes, there are fears of side effects such as blood clotting in isolated cases, but it is important to understand that every drug has side effects on humans.
Medical experts have explained that AstraZeneca may cause some mild-to-moderate side effects that people often encounter after any vaccination.
Truth be told, benefits by far outweigh the side effects.
It is also true that there are also some recent controversies surrounding rare blood-clotting incidents linked to this vaccine in some countries.
However, information is in the public domain that after a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Commission granted the vaccine in the European Union for adults aged 18 years and older.
The EMA noted that 30 cases of blood clots or thrombosis had occurred after vaccine administration to about five million people in Europe, including one fatal case in Denmark.
Health Minister, Jonas Chanda, has repeatedly announced that the vaccine here in Zambia will only be administered to citizens aged 18 years and above.
Therefore, Zambia is on course in rolling out the vaccine to protect citizens from the possible third wave of the pandemic.
According to AstraZeneca’s primary analysis of phase three trial data, the vaccine has a 76 percent efficacy rate after both doses.
Medical experts have explained that the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is a two-dose vaccine jointly developed by the Oxford Vaccine Group and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
It is also important to know that Serum Institute of India’s Covid-19 vaccine, called Covishield, is a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that is manufactured in India.
Information abound!
Therefore, it will be suicidal to refuse to be vaccinated on account of outrageous conspiracy theories doing the rounds on social media and other platforms.
Zambians must dismiss the callous conspiracy theories and go for vaccination in the true spirit of fighting the pandemic selflessly.
One outrageous myth, which must be ignored is that the vaccine contains a microchip which will allow government and corporations to track people who get the jab.
The other misleading theory is that the vaccine will alter a person’s DNA while the other is that vaccines are inferior to people’s immune systems in protecting against Covid-19.
Therefore, Zambians must be wary of misleading information and only get facts from the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation and other established government and international institutions.
Secondly, citizens must get vaccinated quickly as the doses are free of charge.
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