Covid vaccines will be safe, says expert

If all goes to plan, the Faroese public will have access to a Covid-19 vaccine in early spring next year.

The chief medical officer explained last week that between 50 and 70 percent of the Faroese population will need to be vaccinated in order for herd immunity to kick in.

But not everyone will be so keen on getting vaccinated, he added, due to a degree of scepticism surrounding new vaccines.

Rigorous testing

Such concerns are, however, not well founded, according to Shahin Gaïni, epidemiologist at Tórshavn’s National Hospital.

“The pharmaceutical companies behind the vaccines have decades of experience in developing flu vaccines,” he says.

“In the Covid-19 vaccines, they use an inactive virus, which a vast majority of people can tolerate, even those with a weak immunity.”

Side and long-term effects

Side effects and long-term effects are common concerns surrounding vaccines, especially new ones.

But Gaïni is confident that the Covid-19 vaccines have undergone sufficiently stringent tests.

“These new vaccines have gone through all the required phases of clinical trials. Side effects usually appear two to three months after vaccination. If no side effects are observed during this period, it is highly unlikely that there will be any side effects,” says the epidemiologist, adding that he will be taking the vaccine himself once it arrives.

For further information about Covid-19 in the Faroes, visit corona.fo.

Translated by prosa.fo