Coronavirus Vaccination: Know Who Should Not Get Vaccinated, Check Possible Adverse Reactions Here

In its directives, the government has mentioned about those who will get the vaccination first. Similarly, it has also stated the category of people who should not get vaccinated. Check them here

A worker holds a bottle of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, as the mass public vaccination program gets underway at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, England. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: With the largest vaccination drive being kicked off across the country on Saturday, the Centre has issued guidelines for states on using the two vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin – that will be administered in the first phase. The vaccination campaign against Coronavirus will be spread around 3,006 centres which have been installed for the same. The exercise will be conducted for those above the age of 18. Each site, which will function as an election booth does, will have three hard copies of the beneficiary list. These names will also be uploaded by officials to the government’s Co-Win portal — Saturday’s list was uploaded two days in advance.

The government has mentioned in its directives about those who will get the vaccination first. Similarly, it has also stated the category of people who should not get vaccinated. Certain contraindications, or conditions, and factors have been kept in mind. People who exhibit these conditions will not be administered the vaccine.

Refer to the list below to know if you should avoid the vaccination:

• Those below 18 years of age are not allowed to receive the vaccination
• Pregnant and lactating mothers
• Those with allergic reactions to vaccines, pharmaceutical products, notable food allergies
• Those who have exhibited an adverse reaction to a covid-19 vaccine earlier

Provisional contraindications:

Note the condition in which the vaccine will be deferred by 4-8 weeks after recovery:

-Persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

-SARS-CoV-2 patients who have been given SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma.

-Acutely unwell and hospitalized (with or without intensive care) patients due to any illness.

The vaccine should be given with “caution” to persons with a history of any bleeding or coagulation disorder – platelet disorder, clotting factor deficiency, or coagulopathy.

Conditions not contraindicated for vaccine:

-Persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection (sero-positivïty) and or RT-PCR positive illness.

-History of chronic diseases and morbidities (cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, metabolic, renal, malignancies).

-Immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune-suppression due to any condition. However, the response to the Covid-19 vaccine may be less in these individuals.

Those people who have a history of bleeding or coagulation disorder like lotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy, or platelet disorder must be administered the vaccine with extra precautions.

Check possible side-effects of the vaccinations

A list of side effects or adverse effect following immunization (AEFI) for both Covaxin and Covishield were also released by the government:

Covaxin

-Antibody response may be impaired due to the use of chloroquine and corticosteroids.

-Other than that some mild symptoms are: injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, giddiness-dizziness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough, and injection site sweating.

Covishield

-Headache, fatigue, myalgia (pain in muscle), injection site tenderness, malaise (weakness), pyrexia, chills, arthralgia, and nausea.

-As relief for these mild effects, paracetamol can be given.