India begins its third phase of vaccination on the 1st of May 2021:9 Questions Answered

India begins it’s third phase of vaccination on the 1st of May 2021.
Here is a thread to help you with the process.

1. At present there are two vaccines available in India Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Bio-Technology
2. The dosing interval for Covishield is 6-8 weeks while the dosing interval for Covaxin is 4-6 weeks.
3. If you have tested positive or are showing symptoms you should NOT take the vaccine and defer your jab by atleast 4 weeks from the day your symptoms resolve.
4. If you have taken the first dose and test positive or are showing symptoms before the second dose defer the second jab by atleast 4 weeks (even if it defies the preset interval limit of 4-8week)
5. If you are pregnant/lactating, The International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology vide their letter on the 2nd of March 2021 advices that the patient can take both the doses of the vaccine in consultation with her treating obstetrician after explaining all the risks and benifit but at present the MoHFW_INDIA advices not to take the vaccine.
6. Can you get infected even after taking both the doses of the vaccine? – Yes! BUT the recently published data by ICMR DELHI shows the chances of acquiring the infection is 0.03% after both the doses of Covishield and 0.04% after both the doses of Covaxin and even among those who go on to develop the infection, the severity of disease/risk of hospital admission and death is next to 0
7. Possible side effects ? – Pain at the vaccination site/fever for 24-72 hours and YES you can take a PCM for the same.
8. Blood clots after Covishield ? It has a name! TTS (Thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome) – it is very very rare (1 in 2,50,000 participants in the UK where the study was done) side effect which should absolutely not be a concern. (Benefits far outweigh risks)
9. Can you get COVID from the vaccine ? – No, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

So I request all of you to register and get vaccinated!

Together we can and will defeat this disease.

Just do it….

By

Rashmi Chahar Khandelwal

Gynaecologist