Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Boosting protection: On COVID-19 vaccination programme

Boosting protection: On COVID-19 vaccination programme

Vaccination (टीकाकरण) must be accompanied (साथ देना, साथ प्रकट होना) by COVID appropriate (उपयुक्त, लागू, प्रासंगिक) behaviour

Nearly a year after India rolled out (official launch/introduction) the COVID-19 vaccination programme, it began administering (प्रभाव में लाना) a ‘precaution dose (एहतियाती खुराक, खुराक बढ़ाएं)’ — scientifically called a third or booster dose (an amount/quantity of something (a medicine/drug) prescribed to be taken at a specific time) — to people above 60 years with comorbidities (सहरुग्णता), health-care and frontline workers (a person who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency. First/front line workers/responders typically include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, firefighters, sanitary workers & etc) on January 10. On day one, about one million people received the booster shot (In medical terms, a booster dose is an extra administration of a vaccine after an earlier dose). Though 98 million people above 60, 9.7 million health-care workers and nearly 17 million frontline workers have received the second dose as on January 9, the actual number of people in the three groups eligible to receive the booster dose will be lower. The reason: only those who have taken the second dose nine months or 39 weeks ago will be eligible to receive the booster shot. Also, among the elderly, only those with comorbidities will be eligible to receive the additional shot. The nine-month gap between the second and the booster dose is not based on any clinical trials (परीक्षण, अध्ययन) but evidence of protection offered by natural infection lasting up to (तक) that period. The only data on homologous boosting of fully vaccinated (relating to the people who are vaccinated) individuals six months after the second dose comes from a study using Covaxin (India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COVAXIN) developed by a Hyderabad-based company (Bharat Biotech) in collaboration with the ICMR (The Indian Council of Medical Research)) in 184 participants; Covaxin comprises 12.7% of the nearly 1.52 billion doses administered so far (अब तक, वर्तमान तक). But a sizable percentage of the fully vaccinated might have had a previous infection, increasing the level of protection and possibly (संभवतः, शायद, हो सकता है) the duration of protection that hybrid immunity (रोग प्रतिरोधक शक्ति, सुरक्षा) offers. A booster shot in such people will confer (प्रदान करना, भेंट करना) greater protection against severe disease and death.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines (a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease) currently being used for immunisation (the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease) offers sterilising (जीवाणुरहित, कीटाणुरहित करना, शुद्ध करना) immunity, which completely prevents infection. Administering a booster dose will surely increase the level of neutralising (cancel out, make ineffective, counteract, nullify, offset, balance out) antibodies (it is also called ‘immunoglobulin’; a protective protein produced mainly by plasma (blood) cells in the immune system in response to the presence of antigens (disease causing organisms (bacteria & viruses) and other harmful/toxic foreign substances like insect venom)) but even that does not guarantee full protection from infection. The prime objective of COVID-19 vaccines, including the booster, is not to prevent infection but to only mitigate (reduce, diminish, lessen) disease severity (acuteness, seriousness, danger, extremity). If this was true even with the virus strain (variant, variety, kind, type) first identified in Wuhan, China, and all the vaccines that have been developed using this strain, the variants (different or form or version or mutant of something (virus)) which have emerged later have highlighted (emphasize, underscore, underline) the limitation of the COVID-19 vaccines currently available. Even if the variants have demonstrated increased ability to cause breakthrough infections (people getting infections after they are fully vaccinated is when the infections are caused by circulating virus variants, with potential immune escape mechanism, which might reduce the efficacy of vaccines. These are called “vaccine breakthrough infections/cases”) among those who have received a booster shot, all the vaccines have been highly effective in stopping the disease from becoming severe and causing death. Till such time as a safe and highly efficacious (effective, successful, powerful) intranasal (relating to a vaccine that is administered by way of the nasal structures) vaccine that confers a very high level of protection against infection becomes available, even those who receive the booster shot cannot let their guard down. Since none of the booster doses has been developed using the variants that have emerged, the highly infectious Omicron variant (On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the (new coronavirus) variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). The first known confirmed Omicron infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. In recent weeks, infections in South Africa have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection) with its high immune escape (it occurs when the immune system of a host, especially of a human being, is unable to respond to an infectious agent, or in other words that the host’s immune system is no longer able to recognize and eliminate a pathogen such as a virus) capability can cause breakthrough infections. Hence, vaccines should not be seen as a silver bullet (a simple solution to a complex problem) but must be used in combination with masks and other COVID appropriate behaviour to drastically (extremely) cut (reduce, decrease, lessen, diminish) the risk of infection.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.vaccination (noun)

Hindi Meaning - टीकाकरण
English Meaning - treatment with a vaccine to protect against a particular disease; immunization.

2.accompany (verb)

Hindi Meaning - साथ देना, साथ प्रकट होना
English Meaning - occur with, appear with; be associated with, be connected with, be linked with; be caused by, result from.

3.appropriate (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - उपयुक्त, लागू, प्रासंगिक
English Meaning - suitable, applicable, relevant.

4.administer (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्रभाव में लाना
English Meaning - dispense, provide, give, apply (a drug/vaccine).

5.precaution dose (noun)

Hindi Meaning - एहतियाती खुराक, खुराक बढ़ाएं
English Meaning - booster dose; third dose of the vaccine.

6.comorbidity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सहरुग्णता
English Meaning - In medicine, co-morbidity is the presence of one or more additional conditions (diseases) co-occurring/co-existing with a primary condition (disease).

7.trial (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परीक्षण, अध्ययन
English Meaning - test, pilot study, experiment (phase 1, 2,3, and or human/clinical trial).

8.human trial/clinical trial (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मानव परीक्षण
English Meaning - a type of research that studies new tests and treatments and evaluates their effects on human health outcomes.

9.up to (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - तक
English Meaning - till, until.

10.so far (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - अब तक, वर्तमान तक
English Meaning - until now, up to the present, up to this point.

11.sizeable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बड़ा, पर्याप्त, विचारणीय
English Meaning - fairly large, substantial, considerable, significant.

12.possibly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - संभवतः, शायद, हो सकता है
English Meaning - perhaps, maybe, it is possible, very likely.

13.immunity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रोग प्रतिरोधक शक्ति, सुरक्षा
English Meaning - the body’s defense against infections; protection, resistance.

14.confer (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्रदान करना, भेंट करना
English Meaning - give, present, grant, vest in.

15.sterilize (verb)

Hindi Meaning - जीवाणुरहित, कीटाणुरहित करना, शुद्ध करना
English Meaning - disinfect, purify, decontaminate, sanitize.

16.roll out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - official launch/introduction.

17.dose (noun)

English Meaning - an amount/quantity of something (a medicine/drug) prescribed to be taken at a specific time.

18.booster shot/dose (noun)

English Meaning - In medical terms, a booster dose is an extra administration of a vaccine after an earlier dose.

19.frontline worker/staff (noun)

English Meaning - a person who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency. First/front line workers/responders typically include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, firefighters, sanitary workers & etc.

20.the elderly (noun)

English Meaning - the aged people.

21.phase 2 trial (noun)

English Meaning - In phase 2 trial, the vaccine is given to hundreds of people so scientists can learn more about its safety and correct dosage.

22.phase-3 trial (noun)

English Meaning - In phase 3 trial, the vaccine is given to thousands of people to confirm its safety  - including rare side effects - and effectiveness. These trials involve a control group which is given a placebo.

23.last (verb)

English Meaning - continue, exist, stay, persist, remain.

24.homologous vaccine booster (noun)

English Meaning - A homologous booster shot involves the administration of the same vaccine as previously administered, while a heterologous booster shot involves the administration of a different vaccine.

25.vaccinated (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to the people who are vaccinated.

26.Covaxin (noun)

English Meaning - India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COVAXIN) developed by a Hyderabad-based company (Bharat Biotech) in collaboration with the ICMR (The Indian Council of Medical Research).

27.hybrid immunity (noun)

English Meaning - natural immunity from an infection combined with the immunity provided by the vaccine. The hybrid immunity offers stronger protection than just infection or full vaccination alone.

28.vaccine (noun)

English Meaning - a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease.

29.immunisation (noun)

English Meaning - the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease.

30.neutralize (verb)

English Meaning - cancel out, make ineffective, counteract, nullify, offset, balance out.

31.antibody (noun)

English Meaning - it is also called ‘immunoglobulin’; a protective protein produced mainly by plasma (blood) cells in the immune system in response to the presence of antigens (disease causing organisms (bacteria & viruses) and other harmful/toxic foreign substances like insect venom).

32.mitigate (verb)

English Meaning - reduce, diminish, lessen.

33.severity (noun)

English Meaning - acuteness, seriousness, danger, extremity.

34.strain (noun)

English Meaning - variant, variety, kind, type.

35.variant (noun)

English Meaning - different or form or version or mutant of something (virus).

36.highlight (verb)

English Meaning - emphasize, underscore, underline.

37.breakthrough infections (noun)

English Meaning - people getting infections after they are fully vaccinated is when the infections are caused by circulating virus variants, with potential immune escape mechanism, which might reduce the efficacy of vaccines. These are called “vaccine breakthrough infections/cases”.

38.efficacious (adjective)

English Meaning - effective, successful, powerful.

39.intranasal (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a vaccine that is administered by way of the nasal structures.

40.intranasal vaccine (noun)

English Meaning - a vaccine that is administered by way of the nasal structures.

41.let one’s guard down (phrase)

English Meaning - lower one’s guard; to become less guarded/vigilant/careful.

42.infectious (adjective)

English Meaning - transmissive, contagious, communicable, transmissible, spreading.

43.Omicron variant (noun)

English Meaning - On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the (new coronavirus) variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). The first known confirmed Omicron infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. In recent weeks, infections in South Africa have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection.

44.immune escape/evasion (noun)

English Meaning - it occurs when the immune system of a host, especially of a human being, is unable to respond to an infectious agent, or in other words that the host’s immune system is no longer able to recognize and eliminate a pathogen such as a virus.

45.silver bullet (noun)

English Meaning - a simple solution to a complex problem.

46.drastically (adverb)

English Meaning - extremely.

47.cut (verb)

English Meaning - reduce, decrease, lessen, diminish.