DNA Explainer: Received your COVID-19 vaccine? Know what’s going on inside your body – DNA India

After the dire misery of last year, vaccines have emerged as mankinds main weapon against the COVID-19pandemic. Governments all over the world are striving to get as many people vaccinated as fast as possible.

India has administered around 65 crore doses, with around 15 crore fully vaccinated individuals and 50 crore vaccinated with a single shot. If you're one of the vaccinated, theres a lot of information out there to give an idea of what exactly happens when the COVID-19 vaccine is injected into the body.

Here we talk about what is injected via a vaccine, what happens inside the body when it responds to the jab, why many people get some common side-effects and finally, why is there a need with several COVID-19 vaccines to get a second shot.

What happens when vaccine serum is injected into the body?

By definition, vaccine is a process of acquired immunity to fight off a future infection. Vaccines contain an agent resembling the virus, bacteria or parasite causing a disease, which in the case of COVID-19 is the SARS-COV-2 virus. It is either a weakened or dead microorganism, or its toxins or a surface protein. This agent carries the virus genetical material, which can then be read by the body to formulate the immune response.

When the vaccine is injected, the agent goes into the cells of our tissues. It captures the attention of certain 'dendritic' cells, which have a specific function to monitor intruders that may have entered the body. These patrolling cells come in contact with this new never-before-seen agent and alarm the body against it.

The dendritic cells do this by reading the genetic instructions about the virus carried into the body by the vaccine agent. The information is then replicated for the immune system to read and react.The cells travel to a lymph node to identify the right cells in the body and then activates them against the virus.

Why does the vaccine give side-effects to some people?

When it comes to vaccines, most side-effects literally mean that your immune system is responding as it is supposed to. With COVID-19 vaccines, common side effects range from soreness or swelling in the arm where the vaccine was injected, fatigue, headache, fever, chills, muscular pain and nausea.

Vaccines trick the immune system in believing that an actual pathogen has entered the body as it cannot tell the difference between the actual virus and a vaccine agent. The white blood cells rush to the spot to break down the virus and antibodies then attack the debris spread around from the breakdown. This makes the spot of injection akin to a tiny battlefield.

Fatigue and soreness after receiving the vaccine shot is due to cytokines and chemokines. These substances are directing more of the immune cells from other parts of the body to the infected site. This also causes inflammation and temporary swelling in lymph nodes in the armpit area.

Why the need for a second shot?

Several of the COVID-19 vaccines, including the COVAXIN and Covishield being administered in India, need a second booster shot after some time. This is because the first shot creates neutralizing antibodies in the body that block the SARS-COV-2 virus from making one sick but this formation of protective antibodies can be short-lived. Thus, a second dose is needed in most cases to help the body generate a more robust and long-term response against illness by locking the memory of the virus.

The second shot helps the body form long-term memory-cells in addition to short-term protective antibodies. This is also why several people see much stronger side-effects after the second shot, because the body now has a stronger, faster and better-equipped immune response against the virus.

The fear of side effects might tempt many to forego the second shot, but it should be remembered that the potential effects of a COVID-19 infection could be much worse and even fatal.

Follow this link:
DNA Explainer: Received your COVID-19 vaccine? Know what's going on inside your body - DNA India