By Tan Ke Rou
AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine has always been controversial due to continuous reports of its harmful side effects.
Countries including Germany, Italy, and France have stopped using AstraZeneca vaccines, even though no scientific evidence has yet linked the vaccination to health problems.
At first, Malaysia’s government decided to exclude the AZ vaccine from the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP) and make it a voluntary program due to public concern about the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine.
This voluntary vaccination program began in May. There are two rounds for people aged 18 and above to sign up.
According to the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), more than 300,000 slots were registered in the second round of the voluntary program.
However, the overwhelming response to the voluntary program demonstrated that there is no longer any hesitancy about the AZ vaccine within the community. Hence, the government decided to re-include the AZ vaccine into the NCIP.
Chen Yan Rong, 22, a law student from Brickfield’s Asia College (BAC) who received the first dose of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine in June, thinks that every vaccine has its own risk.
“I have done some research and I thought it should be fine and safe for my case,” said Chen.
“The first day is fine, just feeling a little bit tired,” Chen said when asked about the side effects. “But the second day after lunch I started feeling a little bit dizzy and getting a fever, I just took a panadol and slept.”
Chen thinks that harmful side effects are rare and unfortunate cases
According to the Australian Government, fever and feeling tired are the common side effects after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
Elisha Yong Yen Yee, 21, an Events Management student from Sunway University who has vaccinated the first dose of AstraZeneca (AZ) in May, also claims that she was just feeling tired and had a fever after the day of vaccination.
Elisha felt safe after her first dose of vaccination
Elisha registered during the second round of the voluntary program. When asked what made her volunteer register for the AZ vaccine, she said that the number of confirmed cases in Malaysia is getting higher and higher.
“There are no other options, I didn't know when it would be my turn to be vaccinated if I didn’t volunteer,” she added.
Elisha hopes Malaysia can achieve herd immunity by the end of this year
Foong Shook Yin, 22, an Accounting and Finance student from UCSI University who has already registered for the AZ vaccine thinks that the risk of getting negative side effects is very low.
“There are still a lot of advantages after being vaccinated with AZ vaccine,” she added.
The fact that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine can offer higher levels of protection against the Delta variant is based on the new research from Public Health England (PHE). The data showed that it is 92 percent effective against hospitalization for the Delta variant, with no deaths reported.
In addition, the AZ vaccine is also highly effective against the Alpha variation (B.1.1.7; formerly ‘Kent’ variant), resulting in an 86% reduction in hospitalizations and no deaths among those who have received the vaccination.
However, everyone has their own perspective.
Low Jia Wen, 19, a Graphic Design and Multimedia student from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), thinks that we might have hidden diseases that we do not know about, hence she did not volunteer for the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier.
Low hopes that she and her family will be notified to receive vaccination soon
“Plus, recently in Taiwan, many people have died after receiving the AZ vaccine,” Low added. This is also the reason why she is more hesitant about the AZ vaccine.
In fact, since the start of the Covid-19 vaccination in Taiwan, 178 people have reportedly died as a result of the AstraZeneca vaccines. Among the 178 deaths, 141 people were above the age of 75, and they died between the day of the shooting and 8 days after.
Britney Wong Guang Min, 22, a Media and Creative Studies student from UTAR who is going to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine in July, thinks that the news in Taiwan is making people panic since there is no data to indicate a direct link between the vaccine and deaths yet.
“Whichever vaccine we are going to receive would have its risk”, she added.
Britney is excited for her first dose of vaccination
Foong as well, says that we should look into the total population of people in Taiwan who receive the AZ vaccine in that certain period.
She thinks that maybe the rate of death is very low among the total people who got vaccinated.
Foong believes that vaccines can protect herself and her family
“There is a lot more to take into consideration to judge whether there is a causation correlation between those deaths and the AZ vaccine,” said Dr. Tan You Zhuan, a Medical Doctor currently serving in the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Dr. Tan also claims that there is some risk to all Covid-19 vaccines that are available out there.
“From my point of view, there is not much of a difference in terms of the risk,” he said.
Furthermore, Dr. Tan also reminds the public that it does not mean we are immune after the Covid-19 vaccination.
Not only AstraZeneca, but all Covid-19 vaccines carry some risk. At this time, getting vaccinated is a safer choice for ourselves and our loved ones.
If 80% of Malaysia’s population is vaccinated by the end of the year, we would be able to achieve herd immunity.
Stay safe, take care.
Waiting for my second dose... Hope it all goes well 🙏🙏
They can check with their doctors before the vaccination if they are really worried about unknown sicknesses haha
Agreed. Any vaccine has its side effects and it is also related to individual's health conditions. We cannot determine whether it is good or bad based on the information
get my second dose last 2 weeks, no much side effect, feel good 😏