UAE: How To Choose The Right Vaccine For You

With UAE still fighting to combat Covid-19, the questions now everyone asks include, did you take the vaccine yet? Which vaccine did you take? Which vaccine are you planning on taking?

There are several Covid-19 vaccines available in the UAE to consider;

• Sinopharm’s Vaccine

This vaccine was developed in China and so it is often identified as the Chinese vaccine, it has been developed in the traditional way as this vaccine mainly tackles the immune system to develop antibodies that could fight against Covid, it is a virus made originally from the novel of Coronaviruses which allows the body to mainly create antibodied that attach to viral proteins, such as the spike proteins that stud the surface.

Dead BBIBP-CorV is injected into the arm without causing Covid-19. Once inside the body, some of the inactivated viruses are swallowed up by a type of immune cell called an antigen-presenting cell and thus the biological process begins to protect you against Covid-19.

It has had an 86 per cent efficiency against Covid-19 infection, 99 per cent of seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100 per cent effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease.

About taking the vaccine, priority is given to citizens and residents above the age of 18, particularly, the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases.

Sinopharm vaccine requires two doses. The first dose is taken following an assessment of the patient’s health and the second dose is taken after a period averaging between 21 to 28 days.

• Pfizer-BioNTech’s Vaccine

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is based on the virus’s genetic makeup for building the spike protein.

The vaccine uses messenger RNA, genetic material that our cells read to make proteins. The molecule — called mRNA for short — is fragile and would be chopped to pieces by our natural enzymes if it were injected directly into the body. To protect their vaccine, Pfizer and BioNTech wrap the mRNA in oily bubbles made of lipid nanoparticles.

When taking the vaccine, the vaccine particles bump into cells and fuse to them, releasing mRNA. The cell’s molecules read its sequence and build spike proteins. The mRNA from the vaccine is eventually destroyed by the cell, leaving no permanent trace.

At the beginning the vaccine was only available to certain criteria, but as of recently the criteria has been expanded.

• Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine

Sputnik V is based on the virus’s genetic makeup for building the spike protein. But unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which store the instructions in single-stranded RNA, Sputnik V uses double-stranded DNA.

So now which vaccine will you take?