Vaccines are our best bet against Covid-19: expert

“Answers to such questions lie in our immune systems, and the answers aren't straightforward because our immune systems are both remarkably adept and remarkably challenging to predict,” said Dr Ali Sultan, professor of teaching in Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q).He said that most people have mainly five questions about Covid-19 vaccination: Can someone who has been vaccinated still spread the disease?;Will the vaccine remain effective as the virus itself evolves?; How long will the vaccine's protection last?; Can someone who has been infected before, still receive Covid-19 vaccine? and For those who receive the Covid-19 vaccine, what can they safely do?Dr Sultan explained: “It takes time for vaccines to help us build up immunity, and all licensed Covid-19 vaccines so far require two doses, given 3-4 weeks apart to train the body's immune system. People can be exposed to the coronavirus right before being vaccinated, or right after, and there won't be time for the body to develop its defences. 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.”He said that even with a vaccine that has 90-95% efficacy, there needs some built-in time between 7-14 days for that efficacy to be reached. In the short run, it will take some time for the vaccine's effectiveness to build up.He noted that scientists thus far are concerned about the new variants of the virus that are spreading globally. “Although the currently licensed Covid-19 vaccines will apparently still work against the new variant to some degree, the virus will continue to evolve and mutate, with uncertain consequences.“There are increasing data, though not published yet, which suggests that some of the variants may lead to increased mortality, and the jury is still out with regard to how these vaccines are going to work against these variants,” he continued.He affirmed that there is good reason to believe that the public health measures, the mitigation measures, mask wearing, social distancing and other precautions will be fully effective against these variants. As for the effect of the vaccine, Dr Sultan said: “ We can't say for sure if through vaccine, lifelong immunity can be achieved against the coronavirus and it's also not clear how long antibodies linger. Studies so far found that 90% of those infected had antibody responses that lasted at least three months and, in some instances, up to 8 months. The hope is that the vaccines are going to provoke immune responses that are more durable than a natural Covid-19 infection. However, again, we don't know yet. We need to wait and see.”He remarked that the good thing is that if there is some waning of the immune response, then, like with many other vaccines, there is the opportunity to get a booster after a year or so.According to him most people who recover from Covid-19 probably enjoy some degree of protection against getting the disease again. “Both the strength of that protection and how long it lasts, are open questions, with the answers complicated by lack of concrete evidence of the level and duration of protection. The virus may interfere with immune memory, leaving people vulnerable to repeat infections months or years later,” he pointed out. “The vaccines are safe — regardless of whether you have been infected. To sum up: to be safe, I recommend getting the vaccine, even after you recover from Covid-19, when the vaccines become sufficiently available,” he highlighted.Dr Sultan pointed out that even those who have received the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, are not free to go about life as they did before the pandemic. “There are still safety precautions that vaccinated people need to follow in order to keep themselves, their family, and everyone else safe and protected from the Sars-CoV-2 virus,” he added.