As millions around the world get a shot of immunity, people like Delhi-based electrical engineer Anubhav Bhola are far from feeling relieved. He has Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis, a condition wherein the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. It puts him in the high-risk category for acquiring Covid-19, with his chances of benefiting from the vaccine meagre.
“There is concern over the vaccine leading to a flare-up or triggering an existing autoimmune disease,” says Dr KK Agarwal, Senior Medicine Consultant, and President, Heart Care Foundation of India, Delhi. “Especially if you’ve not been able to manage your autoimmune disease well, you’re likely to develop vaccine hesitancy,” he says.
With cases of re-infection emerging, it’s become all the more important to tighten the screws on protecting oneself. A good marker of waning immunity is to keep a check on the number of other infections you’ve had in one year. If it’s four or more, you need to see a doctor, especially if you’ve contracted pneumonia twice, warns The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US. You’re automatically at a higher risk. Even though in some cases, a booster dose of the vaccine is administered to produce more antibodies, the results are debatable.
Satish Chaddha, a 54-year-old corporate executive from Gurugram, understands all this too well. In August, he contracted Covid-19 and took five weeks to stabilise. His rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, made things complicated. In less than two months, he showed symptoms of Covid-19 again. “Even though cases of re-infection are rare, it’s not impossible if you are immunocompromised. Immunity in such cases is a delicate issue and there isn’t enough research yet to show how long a vaccine could protect you,” says Chaddha.
People who are obese, suffer from chronic renal failures, a genetic disorder, or smoke heavily, need to be extra careful. “Two out of the 10 percent vaccinated population fail to mount adequate antibodies for the aforementioned reasons. The maximum vaccine failures, close to 10 percent, are seen in cases of Hepatitis B,” says Dr Shreekant Sharma, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Moolchand Hospital, Delhi.
Additionally, those who have had sudden and adverse reactions to vaccines in the past, need to watch out. It’s the same for those with severe allergies. “The effectiveness of the vaccine on pregnant women is questionable as it is in children. Those who’ve had organ transplants, have HIV or are on medication that suppresses their immunity, are likely to not benefit,” says Dr GS Dingra, a Saharanpur-based general physician.