Getting vaccinated could save your life. COVID-19 vaccines provide strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death. There is also some evidence that being vaccinated will make it less likely that you will pass the virus on to others, which means your decision to get the vaccine also protects those around you.
As of 26 November 2021, the following vaccine has obtained Emergency Use Listing (WHO) :
- The Pfizer/BioTech Comirnaty
- The SII/COVISHIELD and AstraZeneca/AZD1222 vaccines
- The Janssen/Ad26.COV 2.S developed by Johnson & Johnson
- The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA 1273)
- The Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine
- The Sinovac-CoronaVac
- The Bharat Biotech BBV152 COVAXIN vaccine
After different countries have manufactured vaccine now many countries have either introduced or are considering mandatory COVID-19 certification using proof of at least 2 doses of an approved vaccine, negative test (usually in the past 48hrs) or recovery certificate to show recent natural infection. Certifications have also been created for foreign travel and managing admission into domestic venues where individuals are in close contact for longer periods of time, such as gyms, clubs, and events. Still the question lies, whether certification could be an additional policy to increase vaccine uptake for those with vaccine complacency or hesitancy, or whether certification could reduce uptake due to ethical, trust, and privacy concerns.
In a study by Professor Melinda C Mils and Tobias Ruttenauer about investigating the effect of certification on vaccine uptake, they studied 6 countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Switzerland) that implemented COVID-19 certification. This study had a synthetic control model comparing these six countries with 19 control countries. With data on various indicators and country-specific information, a counterfactual trend was built, predicting what would have happened if certificates had not been introduced in comparable conditions. The country which required mandatory certification for access to at least some frequently used public venues such restaurants, or cultural events were taken in the study. This study ran for 40 days.
After doing extensive study, it was discovered that required COVID-19 certification is linked to a significant rise in vaccination rates. While looking at age specific analysis, it was found that those participants younger than 20 years had the highest increased uptake of vaccine after certification was introduced; this trend was followed by age group of 20-29, for both the doses. When certification was introduced in particular settings with more than 1000 people there was increase in uptake of vaccine in those younger than 20 years, again when the certification was extended to broader settings which has events just more than 30 people, the daily vaccinations was increased among age group 20-49 years.
The impact of certificates on COVID-19 infections was difficult to quantify, although encouraging people to get vaccinated before going to high-risk locations like nightclubs or major gatherings would presumably minimize the probability of transmission.
For full detailed text : by Prof Melinda C Mills and Tobias Rüttenauer