Ibrahim Suleiman P.hD.
On Monday, July 26, 2021, the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 reported 16 new COVID-19 cases. That brought the total number of Olympics-related positive COVID-19 tests to 148. It is a situation that has crashed the dreams of many vaccinated Olympic athletes.
The above situation is a worrisome one, which has raised questions in the minds of so many people. How come vaccinated individuals get infected? Why should one take the jab, if one could eventually get infected?
It is not surprising that some people tested positive for the novel coronavirus, despite being vaccinated earlier. Small percentage of vaccinated people will surely test positive, because vaccines are not 100 per cent effective against the virus.
In addition, vaccination does not necessarily protect against infection. It, rather, protects against serious illness and hospitalisation from COVID-19. Coronavirus infection in vaccinated people may present with mild COVID-19 symptoms, or may even be asymptomatic.
A recent study reported that fully vaccinated adults are 94 per cent less likely to be hospitalised with COVID-19 than people who are not vaccinated, while partially vaccinated adults are 64 per cent less likely to be hospitalised. These numbers do not lie. Only a handful of vaccinated people may require hospitalisation.
The existing vaccines have shown about 65 per cent efficacy against the new delta variant. This variant is becoming predominant throughout the world, and more infectious. Despite the vaccine’s lower efficacy on the delta variant, vaccinated people have extremely low chances of hospitalisation, following delta variant infection.
The only way to bring the pandemic to an end is to ensure massive vaccination campaigns in all countries around the world.
According to data collected by Bloomberg, more than 3.89 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across 180 countries as of July 26, 2021. This is only enough to vaccinate about 25 per cent of the world population. Interestingly, countries such as the Maldives, China, US, UK, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Qatar, Bahrain, Malta and Israel have recorded over 50 per cent vaccine coverage, while countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Iraq, Mozambique, Ghana, Niger and Cameroon have recorded less than 5 per cent coverage. This shows uneven access to vaccines. High income countries are getting vaccinated more than 30 times faster than low income countries.
Despite the government’s effort on vaccination, Nigeria has only been able to administer about 3.9 million doses of the vaccine, thereby recording a coverage of less than 2 per cent. This low vaccination rate is not as a result of resistance or non-compliance. It is, rather, due to insufficient vaccines that are being delivered into the country.
Nigeria received nearly 4 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in March 2021. Records have shown that these vaccines were exhausted on July 8, 2021. The country’s officials are awaiting the delivery of another 3.94 million doses of Astrazeneca vaccine in late July or early August, 2021. In addition, the Chinese government donated 470,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the government of Nigeria on July 23, 2021. Thus kick-starting another round of vaccination in the country.
Even though the country is expecting more deliveries, especially the recently procured 29.85 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it is pertinent to note that the total number of vaccines expected to be administered between now and the end of 2021 will not be enough to cover 50 per cent of the eligible population.
This poses the risk of pandemic of the unvaccinated.
Records have shown that of the nearly 4 million administered doses in Nigeria, only 125 cases of severe adverse events, following immunisation, were reported, while 13,663 mild to moderate cases were recorded. This confirms that the vaccine is relatively safe. Furthermore, the adverse effects are rare and treatable. However, the recently procured Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been associated with increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome – an autoimmune reaction in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. Yet, this should not deter one from getting vaccinated, because the benefits of vaccination outweigh its risks.