Vaccination : Effectiveness through RWE , RWD
Some critical views and questions on effectiveness of mass vaccination: Observations, apprehensions and postulates
1) Mass vaccinations are effective only if they are mandatory and not voluntary
2) Vaccination against Covid19 protects individual from the severe morbidity and mortality ( It does not stop infection with the virus )
3) In fact, false security against the pathogenicity of the virus makes a vaccinated person more prone to complacency and non-compliance to the public norms of social distancing. This may in turn make him/her prone to infection at public places.
4) I am of the opinion that a vaccinated person is more likely to be an asymptomatic carrier than a non-vaccinated person who is infected !
5) The biggest problem with the current vaccine scenario is that there are multiple vaccines, targeted at a specific strain of the virus. These may or may not provide immunity against the mutant strains or re-infection with same strain. The bigger problem is that the virus is notorious of producing variants by mutating !
We already have some strong mutants that are resistant to any available vaccines ( Delta, Mu, CP1)
6) The third wave and waves there after are bound to occur ( as a part of natural life cycle of a pandemic )
I am eagerly waiting for the clinical data of the third wave. This data could answer some of the questions and apprehensions mentioned above.
The most interesting data would be from US, where vaccination faces heavy opposition, is voluntary and the norms of social distancing and masking are extremely relaxed ! Also, the initial effects of such relaxation are evident in the European ( UK) clinical data. The data from countries like India, would be critical in bridging the gaps, providing clues to the effectiveness of mass vaccination and also the efficacy of the vaccines to certain extent, through Real World Data and Real World Evidence.
We may have to wait until 2022 or Dec 2021, for the solid evidence based conclusions !
Here is a link to my previous post on Covid19 vaccination and vaccines :
Covid Vaccines : A myth
