By Alex P. Vidal
“I am not afraid… I was born to do this.”—Joan of Arc
WE exhort our kababayans living in New York and other states not to be afraid in taking the COVID-19 vaccines even if they have no sufficient legal immigration status.
COVID-19 vaccines are available to people of all immigration statuses, we have been assured by the New York City Health.
Immigration status does not matter and no one will be asked about it at the vaccination site.
Getting vaccinated will not result in a negative public charge decision or otherwise negatively impact any family’s immigration application.
While no one knows how long the vaccines will protect people from COVID-19, we do not know yet whether the vaccines will be needed annually, similar to a flu shot, or if an additional shot or booster shot is needed, such as with a tetanus shot.
It is also possible that no additional vaccine will be needed after the first two doses.
The clinical trials showed the authorized vaccines are reportedly all effective at preventing symptoms of COVID-19 and severe illness due to COVID-19.
There are ongoing studies of the impact on transmission that should provide more information later this year.
Continued research and time will tell us how long the vaccines’ protection lasts and whether people may need additional doses. Participants in the clinical trials will reportedly continue to be monitored, and we will learn more over time from the millions of people being vaccinated around the world.
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Meanwhile, three COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Pfizer-BioNTech (Pfizer), Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
These vaccines have been shown to be very safe and effective in protecting people from severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization and death.
As of March 1, tens of millions of doses of vaccine have been administered in the U.S.
These vaccines are reportedly “the best protection we have against COVID-19.”
No matter how old we are, COVID-19 can lead to complications and death. Even if we had COVID-19, it is important to get vaccinated because it reportedly lowers our risk of getting COVID-19 again and may prevent us from passing it on to others.
Also, getting vaccinated may protect those around us, particularly people who cannot get the vaccine, such as children.
Vaccination, along with other prevention measures, can help us end the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Below is the other information about the vaccines, including how they work, when and where to get vaccinated, and what to expect when you get vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccines are intramuscular vaccines. They are given through a shot in the arm, similar to most other vaccines.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses several weeks apart.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one dose.
All three vaccines are very safe and effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death. The most important thing is to get vaccinated, with whatever vaccine is available to us.
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Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is just one dose. All three vaccines reportedly cause similar mild to moderate side effects.
It is hard to directly compare the vaccines’ effectiveness since they were tested at different times and in different locations.
Johnson & Johnson trials were conducted more recently, when there were higher levels of COVID-19 transmission, and in countries that have high levels of the new variants of concern.
Even under these circumstances, the vaccine reportedly prevented hospitalizations and deaths.
A key difference among the vaccines is that only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for people ages 16 and 17.
The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for people ages 18 and older.
Another difference is how the vaccines can be stored and distributed. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is more stable and can be kept in a refrigerator, making it easier to transport and reach people who cannot travel to a vaccination site.
For now, most vaccination sites have only one type of vaccine. The type of vaccine you get will depend on where you go. We have the NYC Vaccine Finder showing the type of vaccine given at each site.
It is normal for a virus to mutate (change) over time and for new variants to occur.
Several variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been identified. Some of these variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than others and may cause more severe diseases.
This may lead to more COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The presence of these variants makes it even more important to get vaccinated.
The vaccines are expected to protect against variants detected to date, though their protection may not be as strong against some variants. Scientists are reportedly working to learn more about these variants and how they affect vaccines.
Herd immunity is when enough people in a population have immunity (protection) against a contagious disease that the disease is unlikely to spread.
As a result, even people who are not vaccinated are at lower risk for infection.
The percent of the population that needs to have immunity to reach herd immunity is different for different diseases.
For COVID-19, experts do not yet know what percentage of people would need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity.
However, even before we reach herd immunity, having a large number of people vaccinated will lower the number of people who get sick and are hospitalized or die from COVID-19.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)
