Here's who shouldn't be taking Covid-19 vaccine

Ahead of India's massive vaccination drive, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday released a comparative fact sheet for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines, their contraindications and minor adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs).

The guidelines specifically mention that Covid-19 vaccines and other vaccines should not be co-administered, i.e. they should be separated by an interval of at least 2 weeks

Also, vaccine dosage cannot be interchanged, which means the first and second dose must be of the same vaccine either Covishield or Covaxin.

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Here are some key points:

Who should not take the vaccine?

1. No person below the age of 18 should take the vaccine

2. Pregnant and lactating women should not be administered the Covid-19 vaccine. This is because women who are pregnant, lactating or expecting pregnancy confirmation have not been part of any vaccine trials

3. Anyone who has had an anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of Covid-19 vaccine (during trials) should not receive the vaccine

4. Anyone who has immediate or delayed-onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to vaccines or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products or food items should not take the vaccine

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5. Those who show active symptoms of Covid-19 can take the vaccine only 4-8 weeks after recovery

6. SARS-COV-2 patients who have been given SARS-Cov-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma treatment must also defer vaccine administration by at least 4-8 weeks after recovery

7. Anyone with acute illness and hospitalised (even with non-Covid-19 related illnesses) should not take the vaccine now. They can take it 4 to 8 weeks after complete recovery

8. Covishield should be given with caution to those with thrombocytopenia (abnormally low platelets)

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Following conditions are not contraindicated for Covid vaccines

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

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

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

Side effects

For Covishield, possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) are: injection site tenderness, injection site pain, headache, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills and arthralgia, and nausea.

Very rare events of demyelinating disorders have been reported following vaccination with this vaccine without the causal relationship establishment.

For Covaxin, AEFIs include injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, dizziness-giddiness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough and injection site swelling.