According to the Ministry of Health and Social Development, over 505 thousand people in Kyrgyzstan were vaccinated as of August 5, 2021. It amounts to 14.8 per cent of the total number of citizens subject to vaccination. Both doses were administered to over 135,000 people.
National vaccination was launched in late March, yet it is still wrapped in numerous myths and remains the main topic of lively discussions among people.
You can find information about how and where to get the vaccine in Central Asian states and about the vaccination certificate here.
Here we answer frequently asked questions about vaccination together with Marina Duishenkulova, the specialist of the Republican Centre for Health Promotion and Mass Communication of the Ministry of Health, and based on open data.
According to information of August 10, the Kyrgyzstanis may get the vaccine of the following brands:
- AstraZeneсa developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish AstraZeneca company (United Kingdom);
- Sinoрharm developed by the Sinopharm National Pharmaceutical Group (China).
- Sputnik V developed by the N.F.Gamaleya National Research Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology (Russia).
Yes, all vaccines are safe. These vaccines have passed all three phases of required clinical safety, efficiency and quality trials.
As to the AstraZeneca vaccine, it does develop similar side effects, yet they are rare. Researchers have proved that the frequency of side effects, namely blood clotting, is estimated to occur in 1 in 100,000 vaccinated people.
No, you don’t need to. The vaccination is not administered if one has respiratory diseases or coronavirus infection symptoms. Therefore, there is no need to take a PCR test before getting a vaccine. The presence of antibodies does not guarantee protection from COVID-19.
No, Kyrgyzstan does not recommend to administer the vaccine to pregnant and breastfeeding women because no clinical trials were conducted in them.
Nevertheless, on July 16, 2021, the World Health Organisation updated its recommendations and included pregnant women in the second priority group. According to expert conclusion, COVID-19 puts pregnant women at higher risk of severe course of the disease than non-pregnant women of reproductive age, and also affects the health of the foetus.
The trials conducted in pregnant animals for all vaccines included in the WHO emergency use listing have not reported any negative side effects of the vaccination.
As to breastfeeding women, WHO does not recommend stopping breastfeeding after vaccination. The results of small studies have shown the presence of antibodies in breast milk caused by the vaccine, which enhances the likelihood of some short-term protection of newborn babies.
However, it should be noted that vaccination safety data for both breastfeeding women and pregnant women are still collected. The only exclusion are mRNA vaccines, including Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. According to the pharmacovigilance, vaccination of pregnant women with these vaccines has not revealed any additional risks for their safety.
Currently, it is recommended to plan pregnancy one month after full vaccination, 2-3 months after the coronavirus infection, and 3-6 months after severe course of the disease. There have been no information about adverse consequences of vaccination for the reproductive health of both women and men.
According to WHO, the messages about COVID-19 vaccines leading to infertility are not true.
In June, WHO officially permitted to vaccinate children and adolescents at the age of 12 and older, and also included children and adolescents aged 12-15 with severe chronic concurrent conditions into the priority group. However, the organisation recommends to vaccinate with Pfizer/BionTech vaccine only.
The use of this vaccine in children and adolescents aged 12 and older was permitted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The European Medicines Agency (EMA) allowed to vaccinate children and adolescents aged 12 and older with the Moderna and Pfizer/BionTech vaccines.
Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries administer these vaccines to children and adolescents.
The United States, Canada, Ukraine administer the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine to adolescents aged 12 and older.
In Sweden, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is administered to children aged 16 to 18, and children aged 12 to 16 have a right to get vaccinated if they are at risk or live with people at risk.
Vaccination of younger children is allowed in:
- UAE – aged 3 to 11 – with the Sinopharm vaccine, and aged 12 to 15 – with the Sinopharm or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines;
- China – aged 3 and older – with the Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines;
- Israel – aged 5 to 11, only to those at risk of severe complications and all aged 12 and older – with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Kyrgyzstan does not vaccinate children so far.
There is a risk of catching the coronavirus infection in the period between the two doses of the vaccine; however, it is not higher than in unvaccinated people.
The contamination may occur because it takes time to develop immunity after the administration of the vaccine. For example, if a person self-isolated before the vaccination, the first dose of the vaccine might make him/her weak and he/she could catch the infection. This applies especially to the elderly and other people who are at risk. The fact that one can catch the virus when contacting other people on the vaccination day cannot be ruled out.
Therefore, it is important to observe precautions – wear a mask, wash hands regularly, keep social distance.
No, one cannot mix the vaccines. For example, if the first dose was Sinopharm, then the second dose must be the same, i.e. Sinopharm.
The relevant researches are still being conducted and the result of mixing the vaccines is still unknown.
For example, according to preliminary data of the Oxford study on interactions between the vaccines, people who got first dose of AstraZeneca and second dose of Pfizer were more likely to have mild fever and other moderate side effects than those who were fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca. This was reported by Christian Lindmeier, representative of WHO, at the July 13 briefing.
After the vaccination, one can often have pain and redness in the site of injection, and rarely have headaches, fever. In some cases, there may be high blood pressure.
Keep in mind: after the vaccination, one cannot get the injection site wet, cannot attend bath houses, saunas, swimming pools, drink alcohol, and one must avoid excessive physical exercise.
The second dose must be administered in 21-28 days after the first dose because humoral immunity develops in this period (a form of immunity that protects extracellular spaces – author’s note). It is not stable and disappears in two months. Therefore, one needs to get the second dose to enhance the long-lived immunity. The second dose contributes to development of cell immunity, which, in turn, can live for longer term.
Contraindications to the second dose of the vaccine are allergic reactions and serious complications after the first dose. However, no complications among the vaccinated have been reported as of today in Kyrgyzstan.
Yes, you do. It is recommended to get vaccinated six months after the disease.
WHO has the same attitude because the human body can preserve against the coronavirus infection, and reinfection is very rare to occur.
However, there is another opinion. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the USA, for example, recommends people to get vaccinated right after recovery.
After the disease, there is no guarantee of antibody persistence. Therefore, even if the antibody titer is high, one should get the vaccine anyway.
Besides, Mielita Wuinovic, the representative of WHO in Russia, said to RBK that the immunologic response is a difficult task and requires various scientific levels and availability of complex laboratories. The presence of certain antibodies in commercial tests does not mean that they can stop the virus.
It is important to observe precautionary messages.
According to the WHO, the vaccine against COVID-19 can prevent from severe complications and death, but it is still unknown to what extent it protects a person from the infection and prevents the transmission of the virus to other people.
Sadly, yes. According to the reason stated above, despite the vaccine action, it is important to observe all preventive measures: wear a mask, wash hands with soap or alcohol-containing spray regularly, keep social distance.
It is not necessary to get additional, i.e. booster doses of the vaccine as the full primary vaccination preserves the cell immunity for 6-8 months on average.
WHO shares this recommendation as well. On August 10, the organisation said that to date, the evidence remains limited and inconclusive on any widespread need for booster doses following a primary vaccination series. Besides, earlier WHO called on the countries to impose moratorium on revaccination at least until September.
However, some countries allow booster vaccines. For example, Israel has allowed to vaccinate the third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech to people aged 50 and older. The United States has allowed the third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to the people with compromised immune system. The UAE said that booster shots will be administered to all fully vaccinated people in the country in August.
Later on, Germany, Great Britain, France, Sweden and other countries are planning to allow booster doses of vaccines to the elderly and other people at risk.
Our body has cell immunity that stores information about the virus antigen. This memory continues even after the antibodies are gone. Whenever the virus gets into the body again, the immune system produces antibodies to fight the infection.
However, there’s an opinion that memory cells may not have time to fight the virus, so it is better to keep high level of antibodies during the epidemic. The body does not keep the specific part of the immune system on high alert, and if the system does not detect the antigen for a long time, the response to the antigen decreases with time. To feel safe, the vaccine must be injected once in 6-8 months.
The health ministry of Russia recommends revaccinating every six months: “In the adverse epidemiological situation, one needs to repeat vaccination in six months. At a later stage, revaccination may be done once a year,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote the ministry’s temporary recommendations.
Also, according to CBSNews, the Biden administration is expected to recommend in August 2021 that the majority of Americans get a booster shoot eight months after their second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. The boosters would be administered once the vaccines are fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention sign off on them.
However, as mentioned above, WHO does not recommend to revaccinate, and Kyrgyzstan does not do revaccination.
It is not necessary to revaccinate with the same vaccine as the primary one.
For example, Cambodia offers the AstraZeneca vaccine as a booster shot to all those vaccinated with the Sinovac and Sinopharm. And, vice versa, the Sinopharm vaccine to all those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca. Chile allow to administer AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech as third doses to the people aged 55 and older who were vaccinated with Sinovac earlier.
Russia’s Ministry of Health also permitted to revaccinate with any available vaccine.
The United States recommends to use third doses of the same vaccines that were administered as primary vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna). In June, National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the USA launched clinical trials of 1/2 phase, when adult volunteers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 would get booster doses of various Covid-19 vaccines to determine safety and immunological potency of mixed strengthened schemes. The results are expected at the end of summer 2021.
Sputnik V is a vector vaccine containing the human adenovirus. The adenovirus is delivered into the human body by the genetic material of the coronavirus infection. Therefore, after the vaccination, the body develops immunity not only against Covid-19, but also against adenoviral vectors. If the vector vaccine is administered repeatedly, the immune response to the infection could decrease – adenoviruses will be neutralised by the immune system. Therefore, it is better to get revaccinated with other vaccines after the full primary vaccination with vector vaccines.
Some Russian experts share the same opinion. However, Aleksandr Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Centre, that developed Sputnik V, said that revaccination with their vaccine is not just possible, but may be even more effective than the primary vaccination.
“According to the data of a whole range of researches held both in our country and abroad, the pre-existing immunity to adenoviruses does not actually affect the development of the immune response after the vaccination with adenovirus vector-based vaccines. Moreover, revaccination with adenovirus vectors has been proved to preserve immunological potency against the target antigen,” he said.
Currently, Russia’s Ministry of Health allows revaccination with Sputnik V, but there are no open data about studies proving Gintsburg’s opinion.
As to inactivated vaccines, including Chinese vaccines Sinopharm, Sinovac, as well as Russian CoviVac, various countries give different recommendations on revaccination. However, revaccination is allowed with any available vaccine.
As to potential virus variants, WHO reports that the vaccines against Covid-19 elicit a broad immune response, and changes or mutations in the virus should not make vaccines completely ineffective. In the event that any of these vaccines prove to be less effective against one or more variants, it will be possible to change the composition of the vaccines to protect against these variants.
This publication was prepared under the mentorship programme of the Development of New Media and Digital Journalism in Central Asia Project implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) with the support of the UK Government. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of IWPR or the Government of the United Kingdom.