The study discovered that the average acceptance rate across all studies in LMICs was 80.3%, with middle-income countries such as Pakistan at 66.5% and Low-income countries such as Burkina Faso at 66.5% having the lowest acceptance rates. Findings suggest that personal protection against COVID-19 is the primary factor that explains vaccination acceptance, although side effects-related concerns are the most frequent causes of reluctance among these low and middle-income countries. However, in high-income countries such as the US and Russia, 64.6% and 30.4% respectively recorded very low vaccine acceptance. The 5C model of the causes of vaccination hesitancy, which identifies confidence, complacency, convenience, risk assessment, and collective responsibility, explains the poor acceptance rates in these high-income nations (Machingaidze & Wiysonge, 2021). Health professionals are the most reliable sources of information about COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, many individuals use the internet and social media to learn about vaccination and the pandemic.
Cellular absorption, intracellular routing, processing, and production of the viral protein are all novel in mRNA vaccines. The human body detects the protein or mRNA virus as foreign as part of its immunity and creates specialized proteins known as antibodies. The production of two types of leukocytes, which are the virus-neutralizing antibodies or neutrophils and cytotoxic T cells, activates the antigen presentation channels, which act against the foreign materials.
In August 2021, the FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, giving the public trust in vaccination. Additionally, the vaccine is still accessible with an emergency use permission (EUA), including for those 12 to 15 years old and for delivering the third dose to some immunocompromised people. I would encourage my sister to get vaccinated immediately because the vaccine is safe for adults. However, I would encourage her to vaccinate the 13-year-old nephew only in cases of emergency, like while traveling to at-risk areas.
The immune system has a unique feature called immunological memory. In the memory stage of an immune response, virus-specific B and T cells are kept dormant but ready to respond if they are exposed to the virus or a vaccine mimics it. These first immune response-activated cells give rise to these memory B and T cells. Epigenetic modifications that the cells experience to their chromosomal DNA allow them to respond quickly to subsequent infection symptoms and trigger reactions aimed at eradicating the disease-causing pathogen. B cells play two roles in immunity: they make antibodies that recognize viral proteins and can develop into either plasma cells or present pieces of these proteins to particular T cells to secrete enormous amounts of antibodies.
Antibody immunity is created from the pathogen-specific immune cell response of individuals who have recovered from an infection. In contrast, through vaccination, a weakened or compromised version of the disease organism is introduced, resulting in the development of vaccine-induced immunity. I would encourage my father to get the vaccine because, at 60 years old, he is classified as an at-risk person, whose immune response can be compromised, leading to more COVID-19-related illnesses.
Herd immunity is the defense mechanism that develops in people following vaccination. It is a virus eradication approach in which the vaccination creates a ring of protection around the virus to prevent it from escaping, hence the name (Madison, 2021). When people are immunized against a particular sickness, even when exposed to those afflicted, their risk of developing the illness is reduced.
- A virus enters a person’s body through healthy cells. The invader grows and multiplies itself throughout the body. The coronavirus latches onto receptors on healthy cells, particularly those of the lungs, with the help of its spiky surface proteins. ACE2 receptors then allow the viral proteins to enter cells. Once inside, the virus seizes control of healthy cells, killing some of them in the process.
COVID-19 is prevalent in at-risk populations, including the elderly and individuals with compromised immune systems. People over 60 and those with current medical illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease, lung or heart disease, or other immune-system-altering disorders, are more severely affected by COVID-19. One’s immune system may react between 2-14 days with symptoms like fever, coughing, shortness of breath, exhaustion, headache, sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, and running nose, frequently occurring in demographics where COVID-19 is common.
- The mechanisms through which various vaccinations provide protection vary. All vaccines, however, leave the body with a supply of “memory” T- and B-lymphocytes that will continue to remember how to combat that virus in the future. mRNA vaccines require mRNA made in a laboratory to instruct body cells to produce a protein or even just a portion of a protein that causes an immunological response in human bodies. The immune response that results in the production of antibodies aids in preventing subsequent infections from that pathogen.
The virus in viral vector vaccines is weakened and instructs body cells to produce a harmless coronavirus spike protein. The body produces antibodies that will remember how to fight that virus if it becomes infected with COVID-19 in the future when the immune system recognizes that the protein should not be there. Protein subunit vaccinations also include bits of the virus combined with an adjuvant designed to enhance the vaccine’s effectiveness in the body. The immune system of the body will be able to quickly react to the actual virus and defend the body against COVID-19 once it understands how to react to the protein increase.
Following multiple clinical trials, the vaccine was effective because many people who received it did not become ill again. Essentially, it is rare for vaccinated people to develop severe sickness; instead, they are more likely to exhibit milder symptoms if they become sick. Natural immunity offers a more robust and long-lasting defense against infection, illness symptoms, and hospitalization brought on by the Delta form. People who received a single vaccination dose and had already contracted SARS-CoV-2 benefited from enhanced defense against the Delta form.
Additional article
News | UW-Madison. (2021). Why do we call it herd immunity? Web.
Reference
Machingaidze, S., & Wiysonge, C. (2021). Understanding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Nature Medicine, 27(8), 1338-1339. Web.