Addressing Questions From Our Global Alight Community 

For so many, the COVID-19 vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel, a spark of hope amidst a truly devastating year. Yet there are also questions, concerns, and challenges being raised, too—including from our global staff, who want to return to normalcy with the people we serve after so many disruptions. 

Just as we’ve done since the start of the pandemic, part of our job is to educate not only the refugees and displaced people who are a part of our programs but our global teammates as well. They too receive conflicting messaging about the virus and the vaccine, which impacts not only their work but also their personal lives. It’s vital that our frontline staff share accurate information with our customers and have up-to-date knowledge on when they can expect to be vaccinated themselves.

New vaccines bring both hope and hesitancy. We want to prepare ourselves to assist as best as we can in this new chapter of the pandemic—and to come equipped with the best knowledge available as we journey forward.

Turning to Our Global Teams 

First, we turned to our global Alight teams to better understand people’s most pressing questions. And after surveying our staff across all our country programs, we learned a bit more about what people’s concerns were and how we might address them.

What follows is the information we shared with them in response to those concerns. We believe everyone—not just our teams and the people we serve—should have access to accurate, trusted information about our latest and best way to fight this pandemic. 

How do vaccines work? 

Vaccines reduce the risks of becoming infected by a disease by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection. When you get a vaccine, your immune system learns how to respond to the invading virus. 

When your body encounters a new germ, the immune system’s job is to recognize the intruder and make proteins called antibodies which fight against that and only that intruder. If you are then exposed to the germ in the future, your immune system can quickly destroy it before you become unwell. The vaccine does not weaken, overwhelm your body, or make you sick.  

What are the different types of COVID-19 Vaccines? 

There are four types of vaccines: whole virus, protein subunit, viral vector and nucleic acid (RNA and DNA). While each of these protect people by producing immunity in a slightly different way, they are all trying to achieve the same thing – immunity to the virus. They do so by stimulating an immune response to an antigen, a molecule found on the virus. In the case of COVID-19, the antigen is typically the characteristic spike protein found on the surface of the virus, which it normally uses to help it invade human cells. To find out more information on the specific vaccines that have been approved by the WHO you can visit the website below:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice  

How did scientist develop the COVID Vaccine so quickly?

It’s true that the COVID-19 vaccines have been developed more quickly than any other vaccine, but each COVID-19 vaccine candidate is going through the same clinical trials, whose focus is on safety efficacy, that all other vaccines have. Since COVID-19 has affected the entire world, global collaboration and increased government funding unlike ever before have allowed the COVID-19 vaccines to develop more quickly than previous vaccines. Additionally, the virus that causes COVID-19 is not the first coronavirus to cause an epidemic. Many scientists have been working on coronavirus vaccines since the SARS and MERS epidemics, allowing for a head start in the vaccine development process. What´s more, the technology to use mRNA for vaccines has been in development for over a decade.

How do we know that the COVID Vaccines are safe AND effective?

Vaccine safety is always a top priority, and this is no different for the COVID-19 vaccines being developed. All vaccines go through different trial phases before they are approved for use in the population. The trial phases aim to ensure the safety and ability of the vaccine to protect against the disease (efficacy) as well as other questions about it, including how many doses are needed and when it should be given. The vaccines that are being developed against COVID-19 are following these same phases, but in some cases the phases might overlap or be sped up when enough data is available. Once COVID-19 vaccines are approved for use in the general population, monitoring for safety continues. This monitoring is a normal part of immunization programs and is done for all vaccines.

Who should get a COVID vaccine?

• COVID-19 vaccines are safe for most people 18 years and older, including those with pre-existing conditions of any kind, including auto-immune disorders.
  
  WHO recommends that you discuss your situation with your care provider if you:
  1) Have a compromised immune system
  2) Have a history of severe allergies, particularly to a vaccine (or any of the ingredients in the vaccine)
• WHO recommends the use of the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women when the benefits of vaccination to the pregnant woman (protection from COVID-19) outweigh the potential minimal risks.
• WHO does not recommend discontinuing breastfeeding because of vaccination.
• People who have had COVID-19 can get vaccinated. While a previous infection does give you some immunity against COVID-19, vaccination gives your body a massive immune boost – including against new variants.
  
  Some Ministries of Health in contexts with limited vaccine availability require individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 to wait several weeks or months after recovery before getting the vaccine. These policies are in place to ensure vaccine access for individuals who do not have the natural temporary immunity provided by a recent recovery from COVID-19

   

What’s the “best” vaccine?

The best vaccine is one that has been approved and one that you can receive! Do not wait for a specific vaccine!!

Remember: vaccines offer strong protection against COVID-19, but you must take all of the recommended doses.

What are the side effects?

• After receiving the vaccine, you may experience mild fever, headache, pain or swelling at the injection site, chills, fatigue or muscle pain.
• In most cases, this is a normal and healthy reaction to the vaccine, this is your body developing protection against infection. However, if there is redness or tenderness (pain) where you got the shot that increases after 24 hours, or if side effects do not go away after a few days, you should contact your healthcare provider.
   

Do these vaccines protect us from the known variants?

All viruses – including COVID-19 – evolve over time. When a virus replicates or makes copies of itself, it sometimes changes a little bit, which is normal for a virus. These changes are called “mutations”. A virus with one or more new mutations is referred to as a “variant” of the original virus.

The COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved are expected to provide at least some protection against new virus variants because these vaccines elicit a broad immune response involving a range of antibodies and cells. Therefore, changes or mutations in the virus should not make vaccines completely ineffective. The good news is that our current vaccines can be updated rather quickly to be effective against new variants. We already do this with the influenza vaccine.

Why are fully vaccinated people still catching COVID-19?

No vaccine is 100% effective, so “breakthrough infections”, where people get sick with an infection even after vaccination, are to be expected with any disease. Even the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine – one of the most powerful disease prevention tools we have – is only 96% effective against measles after two doses.
 
The good news is that COVID-19 vaccines can and do protect the majority of people from hospitalization and death, which is why as many doses need to be administered around the world as rapidly, and equitably, as possible.

Do I need to continue public health measures after vaccination (i.e., wearing masks, distancing, handwashing)? 

While a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent serious illness and death, we still don’t know the extent to which it keeps you from being infected and passing the virus on to others. The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunity the virus has to change. It is important that you continue to take actions to slow and eventually stop the spread of the virus:

• Keep at least 1 metre from others
• Wear a mask, especially in crowded, closed and poorly ventilated settings.
• Clean your hands frequently
• Cover any cough or sneeze in your bent elbow
• When indoors with others, ensure good ventilation, such as by opening a window
   

Doing it all protects us all. 

How will Alight specifically counter misinformation/skepticism surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine?

Vaccine misinformation has risen significantly in recent years. Social media serves as an amplifier of misinformation and can promote skepticism and resistance to immunization. There are several important ways you can counter vaccine misinformation:

• Verify sources! Health agencies like WHO are the most consistent and trustworthy sources of information on health, including the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Treat people’s questions with respect and compassion. Dismissing or confronting individuals with misinformed beliefs is often not constructive. Instead, we suggest providing a safe space to answer questions and respectfully and clearly correct myths and misconceptions.
• Avoid repeating misinformation Do your part to avoid spreading misleading or false information. Do not forward WhatsApp or other social media posts unless they cite the WHO or other trusted sources.
• Obtain more information so that you can be ready to address myths if and when they do come up.  

What is Alight doing and planning to do going forward?

We plan to take a proactive approach to helping our teams and our global community get the information they need to make the best decisions for their own health and the health of the people we serve. At a country level, we’re working with indigenous staff who can assistant with presenting this information to anyone who needs it.
 
We’ll keep researching and staying up to date with the latest scientific developments. We’ll share webinars and training with other NGOs and local groups. And we’ll maintain a continuous open line of communication, working with teams to determine the best way to reach everyone.  

Learn More, and Stay Informed 

The best thing we can all do now is to stay educated and make the best decisions for ourselves and for our families. Want more information about what we’re doing in the struggle against COVID-19, and how to stay informed? Reach out anytime at (800) 875–7060 or send us a message.