Brainstorm more about Covid-19 and vaccination

Job Bwire, quoting Ms Judith Nabakooba, the Minister of ICT said, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine will arrive by May or June this year.

The vaccine to be used is from the British pharmaceutical company called Astra Zeneca. President Museven in an exclusive interview with Vision Group’s platform said, schools will reopen only after the country has secured a vaccine to fight infection of Covid-!9 .

Other media also reported that when vaccines are secured, vaccination will start with people at high risk, like medical staff. 
The arrival of Covid-19 is changing the world order and people worldwide are excited about the vaccine for Covid-19. Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the director of Uganda Virus Research Institute, told journalists recently that they are completing the necessary internal process before beginning to enrol volunteers for the trail. 
He said: “We are working on a protocol to start a clinical trial for a vaccine that is being developed in the United Kingdom by Imperial College London. This trial is going to focus on the safety of the vaccine and its immunogenicity”. He concluded “we are not giving many details for a strategic reason.” He also said:  “Sometimes, those who are opposed are the noisiest; you may think they are carrying the opinion of the whole world.” I think this is unfortunate statement because we need to be transparent when we deal with people’s health. I may be labelled ‘noisiest or alarmist: But recall Galileo was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for saying the Earth is round. However,  that did not stop the Earth  from being round. 
Covid-19 is a respiratory and highly contagious disease.  Many researchers across the globe are competing to produce a vaccine that can stop the spread of the disease.

There are more than 70 candidate vaccines being tried today. The World Health Organisation has never approved or authorised the use of any one of them, it only authorised them to enter the stage of clinical trials, which is ongoing.  

There is no ready Covid-19 vaccine yet. Some of the candidate vaccines, including one from Astra Zeneca, are in clinical trial, which is the third stage of drug development after discovery and animal trials.

There is a need to study efficacy and side effects, which require long periods of time, at least 10 years; taking from the history of other vaccines. There are several key unknown parameters - how long will immunity of Covid-19 last? Is Covid-19 seasonal for which we won’t retain long-term immunity? Shall we require repeated vaccinations? 

It seems the virus mutates like what has been reported in the United Kingdom. Some may have deadly effects, others may be mild and scientists can take advantage of this while developing a vaccine. 

In Finland, the Finnish Medicines Agency, Fimea, reported an adverse reaction to the Covid-19 vaccine, whose details were not disclosed due to patient confidentiality.

They reported rate of adverse reaction as one in 100,000 people; usually the rate of adverse reaction to vaccination is about one per one million. Without more information about the vaccine, you cannot talk about ‘safety and immunogenicity.’

Should Uganda risk and vaccinate so many people in a clinical trial? Subjects for clinical trials are usually volunteers and they sign agreement with the researchers. The disease has instilled fear in the community and governments.  Covid-19 is not the world’s first pandemic; neither will it be the last. 

Nature controls population and we have to live with COVID, like man has lived with many epidemics since time immemorial. Charles Darwin in his evolution theory said, “Survival of the fittest”.

The Ministry of Health has given guidelines for avoiding or reducing the incidence of the disease. I want to add that those who work in busy crowded places should not only wash hands but bathe thoroughly with soap from head to toe and change clothes on return home.  

Uganda has lost 300 people due to COVID in ten months (March-December), i.e. one death per day. According to the Ministry of Health records published in news media, 70,000 to 100,000 people die of malaria annually, i.e. 194.4 – 277.7 daily. Every second a child dies worldwide through abortion.  

COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China. In December 2019, there was a claim in the social media that a Chinese Doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital – Li Wenliang warned fellow medics about a possible outbreak of a new disease, but was told by Police to ‘stop making false comments’ and was investigated for ‘spreading rumors’ .

Dr. Li died in February 2020 after contracting the virus while treating patients in the city. Millions of people were reported dead through this new disease but China concealed this information.  However, there is no smoke without fire. It is alleged that COVID-19 was created in the laboratory.

The atheist Communist China wanted to create Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) in an attempt to create life. The product of the experiment turned into a deadly virus and in the process of containing it, thousands of Chinese died.

The World Health Organization has tried up to today to go to China’s Wuhan to investigate the origin of the virus without success.  BBC stated how disappointed WHO delegates were denied visa clearance. Sky News agency also quoted the head of the WHO to have said he was ‘very disappointed’ China denied its experts access to investigating the origin of coronavirus. 

Although REUTERS staff denies, we have seen YOU TUBE video claiming that “The digital ID chip is in the vaccine shot, that’s why they want everybody to take it”. It was reported that Bill Gates will “launch human-implantable capsules that have ‘digital certificate’ which can show who has been tested for the coronavirus and who has vaccinated against it”.

Considering the whole drama connected to COVID, one cannot entirely dismiss the possibility that these vaccines have Radio-Frequency-Identification (RFID) chip. In January 4, 2021, Israel Today reported Israel Protest against COVID vaccine, the so called “Green Passport”.

The paper states that “’green passport’  is a mobile app that will verify the holder has received both doses of the vaccine, and thereby permit him/her to enter public venues for cultural and sports events and travel abroad without having to quarantine”.  Alan Gelb and Anit Mukherjee of Center for Global Development reported on November 25, 2020 about certificate COVID vaccination.

They reported also that Qantas has become the first airline to require proof of vaccination for international travel. They also reported that “India has already unveiled plans to use its digital vaccine Information Network for COVID vaccine distribution and delivery”. What next for Uganda? We go slow.

Dr. Okoth is a concerned citizen and Christian.
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