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Does the vaccine make the Covid protocols irrelevant?(Pulse Contributor’s Opinion)

According to the ‘’Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group of Behaviors’’, 29% of people who have been vaccinated intentionally flout the COVID-19 protocols that have been set down by the World Health Organization. This is led by the belief that; the introduction of vaccines prevents cross-infection and makes covid protocols irrelevant.

Ghana’s COVID-19 Vaccination

The introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine does not make the World Health organizations earlier protocols, irrelevant counterintuitive, but health officials say that, even after you have been vaccinated, you need to acknowledge the relevance of these protocols by acknowledging them. These protocols are relevant because it will take a while for the effectiveness of the vaccine to build up. Effectiveness of the vaccine means the ability of the vaccine to fight infections and viruses in the body. This means that it takes a little while for the vaccine to be able to fight the COVID-19 virus in the body. The effectiveness of a vaccine depends on the type of the vaccine, whether the Pfizer Moderna or Johnson and Johnson will show the time the vaccine will take to become effective. For instance, Pfizer Moderna requires two doses which should be administered two different times. One can still be infected after the first dose because the drug has not fully built its potency or effectiveness. This means that one can become infected with the COVID- 19 even after the first shot. Even after getting the second shot, there is still a likelihood of getting the infection. This is because Pfizer takes up to 3 weeks to build up its effectiveness. The potency of Pfizer is 95% and Moderna is 94%. This shows that the vaccine does not protect an individual 100%. This implies that there is the chance of transferring the infection to other people too even after the second dose. The above explanations, expatiate my point that COVID-19 protocols are very useful or relevant.

Also, the observance of the COVID-19 protocols is still relevant because only a few people have been vaccinated. Namandje Bumpus, an expert in pharmacology and molecular science says, ”there is the probability of vaccinated people transmitting the disease to others”. Being vaccinated does not mean that you are completely immune to the virus. There are over 7 billion people alive worldwide and out of this number, only about 1.67 billion people have been vaccinated. Due to individual genetic makeup, some people who have been vaccinated might get reinfection but may be asymptomatic. Therefore, if such people ignore the COVID-19 protocols and mingle with the who are not vaccinated, there will be a surge in COVID-19 infections. Trying to vaccinate about 7 billion people will also be highly impossible due to the inability to produce 7 billion vaccines. This will strain the economies of various countries. Also, some conspiracy theorists have been able to convince a large number of people to be of the notion that vaccines are biological and technological weapons employed by world authorities to control them. Taking all these into account, the relevancy of the COVID protocols is very well established.

In conclusion, the introduction of the vaccine does not make earlier WHO protocols irrelevant. It is therefore very important to encourage everyone to still adhere to the COVID-19 protocols which include: handwashing, social distancing, and wearing of nose masks even after vaccinations.

Prince Afram.

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Pulse Contributors is an initiative to highlight diverse journalistic voices. Pulse Contributors do not represent the company Pulse and contribute on their own behalf "

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