Covid-19 National immunisation campaign absorbs senior citizens |27 January 2021
A blessing from Bishop Harel (Photo: Anel Robert)
A blessing is an approval or good wishes and also the request of protection and favour from God, the head of the local Catholic diocese Bishop Alain Harel has said.
Bishop Harel made the statement yesterday morning, shortly before blessing the first batch of the AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine AZD1222 – or Covishield as it is marketed – which is now being administered to the country’s over-60 year old citizens.
Seychelles on Friday received 50,000 doses of the vaccine from the Indian government and Bishop Harel himself had the honour of receiving the first dose of the Covishield.
Several high government officials who are above 60 years old also received their first jab of the vaccine yesterday during the official launch at the Yellow Roof Building of the Seychelles Hospital.
Speaker of the National Assembly Roger Mancienne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde, Minister for Local Government and Community Affairs Rose-Marie Hoareau, Minister for Health Peggy Vidot, Minister for Internal Affairs Errol Fonseka, the President of the Court of Appeal Anthony Fernando and leader of government business in the National Assembly Bernard Georges were among those who took their first dose of the vaccine yesterday.
In his prayer Bishop Harel asked for protection for all those taking the vaccine so that they can protect others and help break the transmission chain of the Covid-19 virus.
He also prayed for all the researchers and scientists who are burning the midnight oil in their effort to bring an end to the pandemic, as well as all the health workers who are giving their all and even putting their lives at risk to help others.
To conclude, the Catholic Bishop also prayed for the health and wellbeing of the Seychelles’ population.
When asked why targeting the more elderly citizen for the Covishield, Public Health Commissioner Dr Jude Gedeon, who was also present at yesterday’s launch, explained that despite the side effect of the vaccine which are similar to those of the BBIBP-CorV or Sinopharm, trials for the latter in people aged 60 years and over have been completed, the authority therefore decided that it will be safer to administer the Covishield to the particular age group, based on limited stock of the vaccine.
He also added that the decision does not necessarily mean that the Sinopharm is not safe for the particular age group, but the decision is rather based on a lack of information based on uncompleted researches in that area.
According to the Taiwan News, China has excluded seniors from its mass Covid-19 immunisation programme, sparking concerns about the safety of the much-touted home-grown vaccines.
State media outlet CCTV released a notice on Sunday January 3 about the country’s inoculation effort against the coronavirus, stating that individuals aged 18 to 59 years old are eligible to receive a jab, while those of other age groups are cautioned against vaccination before further clinical tests are conducted.
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease.
It typically contains a biological preparation from disease-causing micro-organism or made synthetically that resembles it.
This preparation is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins.
The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognise the agent as a threat and starts producing antibodies against it, so as to further recognise and destroy any of the micro-organisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future.
Vaccines can be prophylactic (to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by a natural or “wild” pathogen), or therapeutic (to fight a disease that has already occurred, such as cancer).
The administration of vaccines is called vaccination and it is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases.
Roland Duval
