COVID-19: Received first jab of vaccine? Know how protected you are
With the COVID-19 inoculation drive against coronavirus multiplying daily, the amount of people in India who are fully vaccinated stands at over 5 crore, while more than 21 crore people have got their first jab of the vaccine.
Since all the vaccines available comprise two jabs, the government of India has urged all its citizens to complete the course by receiving both doses. With that being said, the government has also said that the first dose too offers some amount of protection. But it is not recommended to take only one dose.
As maintained by PGI Chandigarh study, vaccine efficacy is 75 per cent for everyone who have received the first dose and both doses.
According to Dr NK Arora, the study proves that at least in the short run, effectiveness is similar notwithstanding whether one has received one dose or both doses. "If you received only one dose, still you are protected”.
Another study on Covishield shows that the protection of one dose is approximately 61 per cent and both the doses 65 per cent.
“A few days back, another very important study by CMC Vellore, Tamil Nadu which covers most of the current epidemic wave India experienced in April and May 2021 shows that if somebody is partially immunized, vaccine effectiveness of Covishield is 61 pc and with two doses, the effectiveness is 65 pc - and there is very little difference, especially since there is some degree of uncertainty involved in these calculations," the Centre has said.
Chances of reinfection after the first jab and 2nd jab:
The possibility of getting reinfected after vaccination is not negligible as incidents of infection between two jabs have been reported. As per the centre two institution have been analyzing vaccine affectiveness.
“And both these studies show that breakthrough infection with one dose is around 4 per cent, and around 5 per cent with two doses, basically hardly any difference. And the other study shows that 1.5 pc - 2 pc breakthrough infections," the govt said.
What international studies say?
Not long ago, Public Health England said protection of the first dose of the Oxford vaccine (Covishield) is not as musch as it was thought earlier. For this reason few nations are narrowing the gap between the two doses of Oxford vaccine.
It is being studied how long the first jab protects. For Covaxin, the gap between the jabs remains 28 days however, the efficiency of one dose is being studied.
