Possible Side Effects After Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine

 Updated Mar. 16, 2021

COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you from getting COVID-19. You may have some side effects, which are normal signs that your body is building protection. These side effects may affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. Some people have no side effects.

Common side effects

Helpful tips

Talk to your doctor about taking over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, or antihistamines, for any pain and discomfort you may experience after getting vaccinated. You can take these medications to relieve post-vaccination side effects if you have no other medical reasons that prevent you from taking these medications normally.

It is not recommended you take these medicines before vaccination for the purpose of trying to prevent side effects.

If you received a second shot

Side effects after your second shot may be more intense than the ones you experienced after your first shot. These side effects are normal signs that your body is building protection and should go away within a few days.

When to call the doctor

In most cases, discomfort from pain or fever is a normal sign that your body is building protection. Contact your doctor or healthcare provider:

• ●If the redness or tenderness where you got the shot gets worse after 24 hours

• ●If your side effects are worrying you or do not seem to be going away after a few days

If you get a COVID-19 vaccine and you think you might be having a severe allergic reaction after leaving the vaccination site, seek immediate medical care by calling 911. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and rare severe allergic reactions.

Remember

• ●Side effects can affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days.

• ●The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine both need 2 shots in order to get the most protection. You should get the second shot even if you have side effects after the first shot, unless a vaccination provider or your doctor tells you not to get it.

• ●You only need 1 shot of the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (J&J/Janssen) COVID-19 Vaccine to get the most protection. Learn more about the different COVID-19 vaccines.

• ●It takes time for your body to build protection after any vaccination. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, or two weeks after the single-dose J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. You should keep using all the tools available to protect yourself and others until you are fully vaccinated.

• ●After you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, you may be able to start doing some things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. Learn more about what you can do when you have been fully vaccinated.

• ●We are still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. After you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you should keep taking precautions in public places like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing your hands often. CDC will continue to update recommendations as we know more.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html

One year into COVID-19 education disruption: Where do we stand?

        Building peace in the minds of men and women

19/03/2021

Nine-year-old Filipino boy, Daniel Cabrera, pictured studying in the light of a McDonald's  │PUBLISHED: 11:04 GMT, 9 July 2015│Click link for article related to picture:   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3155858/Hard-work-determination-DOES-pay-Nine-year-old-Filipino-pictured-studying-light-McDonald-s-swamped-donations-picture-goes-viral.html

Exactly a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought learning to a screeching halt worldwide, creating the most severe global education disruption in history. At the peak of the crisis, UNESCO data showed that over 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries were out of school. Over 100 million teachers and school personnel were impacted by the sudden closures of learning institutions. Today, half of the world’s student population (more than 800 million learners) is still affected by full or partial school closures. In 29 countries, schools remain fully closed.

The pandemic has exposed and deepened pre-existing education inequalities that were never adequately addressed. As always, it has impacted vulnerable and marginalized learners the hardest. The economic downturn of the crisis is now adding pressure on national education budgets and aid at a time when increased funding is needed for education recovery. Despite critical additional funding needs, two-thirds of low- and lower-middle-income countries have cut their public education budgets since the start of the pandemic, according to a recent joint report by the World Bank and UNESCO.

In October last year, UNESCO convened a Global Education Meeting where world leaders and partners expressed their commitments to protect education financing and safeguard learning from the devastating impact of the pandemic.

From the onset of the crisis, UNESCO and its more than 160 partners through the Global Education Coalition have been mobilized around three central themes - connectivity, gender and teachers - to ensure that learning never stops during this unprecedented crisis.

From keeping schools open to bridging the digital divide – from addressing dropouts and learning losses to calling for more education funding - UNESCO has been leading the way through intensive partnerships and innovations during the past year to prevent a “generational catastrophe” and build more resilient and inclusive education systems.

Keeping schools open and supporting teachers

Protecting the physical and mental health of students, teachers and school personnel is essential. School closures have brought a major disruption in the lives of children and youth, affecting their socio-emotional development and well-being, as well as their social life and relationships. As two-thirds of the world’s student population is still affected by full or partial school closures, the pandemic is taking a rising toll on their mental health.

To enable a safe return to school, the world’s 100 million teachers and educators must be given priority in vaccination campaigns. The pandemic directly affected 63 million primary and secondary teachers. During school closures, they were required to conduct distance teaching with no time to prepare and often with limited guidance and resources. Teachers had to modify curricula and adapt lesson plans to carry on with instruction using high, low and no-tech solutions. They need continued training on remote teaching, available technologies and alternative flexible pedagogies for online, blended and offline learning during future school closures.

School dropout and learning loss

Lost learning is no longer being counted in days and weeks, but in months. Two-thirds of an academic year has been lost on average worldwide due to full or partial closures. The longer schools stay closed, the higher the risk of children and youth losing out on their future. 24 million children and youth are at risk of dropping out. A new UNESCO study shows that over 100 million children will fall below the minimum proficiency level in reading due to the impact of school closures. Teachers require training and support on adjusting curricula and assessment methods to measure and mitigate learning losses and prevent vulnerable students from dropping out.

School closures also threaten decades of progress made towards gender equality, placing many girls at heightened exposure to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, adolescent pregnancy and forced marriage. The closures also cut access to vital services for protection, nutrition, health and well-being. UNESCO and partners launched a campaign last year to ensure that every girl is able to learn while schools are closed and return to the classroom when schools safely reopen.

The immediate preoccupations to address include learning loss, how to assess it and offer remedial action. More must be done to counter the exacerbation of existing learning gaps and inequalities, the emergence of new ones, and the risk of increased dropout. The joint Framework for reopening schools by UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and World Food Programme (WFP) serves as an important reference on this issue.

Digital transformation and the future of education

Approximately half of the world’s population (some 3.6 billion people) still lack an internet connection. This means that at least 463 million or nearly one-third of students around the globe cannot access remote learning, mainly due to a lack of online learning policies or lack of equipment needed to connect from home. Most students do not have the appropriate connectivity, device and digital skills required to find and use educational content dependent on technology.

According to UN estimates, nearly 500 million students from pre-primary to upper-secondary school did not have any access to any remote learning—three quarters of those lived in the poorest households or rural areas. This enormous digital divide shows how connectivity has become a key factor to guarantee the right to education. Digital skills and learning must be incorporated into education systems in order address the injustice of the digital divide. This crucial issue is among many currently being debated through UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative, a global conversation to reimagine how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet. The report is due to come out in November 2021.  

UNESCO will convene a high-level ministerial event on 29 March to take stock of lessons learnt, the greatest risks facing education today and strategies to leave no learner behind. It will show how the Global Education Coalition has mobilized partners to support learners, teachers and policy-makers with new tools and knowledge.

Source: https://en.unesco.org/news/one-year-covid-19-education-disruption-where-do-we-stand

HOW DO I SET UP MY CLASSROOM? A quick guide for teachers

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/pdf/How-Do-I-Set-Up-My-Classroom.pdf

Promote behaviours that reduce spread of COVID-19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6880AjOifms

Maintaining healthy environments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DugW4FaE-nU

Maintaining healthy operations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0x_MrmTuvg

Prepare for when someone has COVID19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRakDR7NHrI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dy7dVm7qVE&t=75s

What to do if a Student Becomes Sick or Reports a New COVID-19 Diagnosis at School*

Scenario based on geographic area with community transmission of SARS-COV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19.

·         Student(s) shows signs of infectious illness consistent with COVID-19.^**

·         Teacher or staff excuses student(s) from classroom, cohort/pod or area within the school. Alert the COVID-19 POC.

·         COVID-19 POC takes student(s) to isolation room/area and ensures student(s) is properly supervised. The parent, guardian, or caregiver is called. Arrangements are made for student(s) to either go home or seek emergency medical attention. Note: If multiple ill students must be placed in the same isolation room/area, ensure mask use and stay at least 6 feet apart while supervised.

·         Parent, guardian, or caregiver picks up student(s). Parent, guardian, or caregiver contacts healthcare provider for evaluation and possible COVID-19 test.

·         Clean and disinfect areas that the ill student(s) occupied. Ventilate the area(s), wait as long as possible before cleaning to let virus particles settle (at least several hours), and use personal protective equipment (including any protection needed for the cleaning and disinfection products) to reduce risk of infection.

Student negative COVID-19 test result.^***

·         Student(s) return to school following existing school illness management policies.

Student positive COVID-19 test result.

·         Student(s) found to have COVID-19 and begins home isolation.

·         COVID-19 POC starts a list of close contacts ^**** of the ill student(s) and informs staff, parents, guardians, or caregivers of close contacts of possible exposure.

·         COVID-19 POC works with local health officials to assess spread and support follow up with staff, parents, guardians, or caregivers of student(s) that had contact with the ill student(s).^****

·         Parents, guardians, or caregivers of close contacts are advised to keep their children home (quarantine for 14 days) and to consult with the student(s)’ healthcare provider for evaluation and possible COVID-19 test.

·         Members of the ill student(s)’ household and staff who had close contact with the student are advised to quarantine for 14 days. Options to shorten quarantine are described here[1], but keep in mind this increases risk of spread.

·         The ill student(s) can return to school and end isolation once the following are met:

o    10 days out from the start of the symptoms, AND

o    Fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication, AND

o    Symptoms have improved.

Footnotes

Note: COVID-19 POC = the designated point of contact (a staff person that is responsible for responding to COVID-19 concerns, such as director)
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-options-to-reduce-quarantine.html

** The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children include fever or chills, cough, nasal congestion or runny nose, new loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, diarrhea or vomiting, stomachache, tiredness, headache, muscle or body aches, and poor appetite or poor feeding (especially in babies under 1 year old).

*** With no known close contact.

**** Close contact is defined as someone who was within 6 feet for a total of 15 minutes or more within 2 days prior to illness onset, regardless of whether the contact was wearing a mask.

***** To the extent allowable by applicable laws regarding privacy.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/student-becomes-sick-diagnosis-flowchart.html

Students get advice for safe return to school

Article by nationnews

POSTED ON MARCH 19, 2021

Dr Clyde Cave (FILE)

A panel of doctors today advised students to follow the protocols issued by health authorities and the Ministry of Education when school reopens.

The advice was given this morning during a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training on COVID-19 and the safe return to school.

The panel, which included Acting Director of Medical Services, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr Clyde Cave, and Junior Doctors/Paediatric Residents – Dr Dario Nurse, Dr Tanisha Austin and Dr Anja Greaves, all answered ‘yes’ to the question: “Is it safe for children to return to the physical classroom setting?”

“Yes, remember nothing in life is without risk. We control those things we can with what we know. It is possible to control things to be in a safe environment like school, bearing in mind the extreme benefit of education,” Dr Cave said.

Dr Austin was in agreement: “We have not stopped other areas of our daily life. We continue to go to the supermarket; we continue to venture outside of our homes; the risk is the same. I would say once you continue to do all the protocols; you continue the mask wearing; you continue the hand hygiene, the distancing; we can get through this and we can beat this and we can definitely get back to school,” she said.

In addition, Dr Greaves noted: “Studies have shown that transmissions in school clusters have been next to minimal.”

The doctors also provided useful tips to the students on what they should do when school reopens.

Those tips included the correct way to wear a mask; walking with two to three masks and a bag to place them in when finished, as well as a demonstration on the proper removal and disposal of a mask. Students were also told to only wear a mask for four hours at a time.

Dr Nurse advised students who may have difficulties concentrating in exams while wearing a mask that now they are at home, they should practise wearing masks to help them to adjust.

When asked about the wearing of face shields by students in the classroom, Cave said: “In a high virus environment, you can wear a face shield along with your mask as an option. The mandated one is the mask because that gives us the biggest effect, biggest desirable effect for the smallest intervention, and probably the lowest cost, but yes, adding a face shield to that will protect your eyes.

“Also, when I first used it what I realised is it stopped my hands going to my face as much, and that’s something we also have to be aware of because we can transmit viruses to ourselves by touching surfaces and then transmitting it to our face directly.

“So, I don’t think it’s a requirement or a necessity that you cover your eyes, but if you have allergies and you’re constantly rubbing your eyes and you don’t wear glasses, yes goggles or a face shield,” he said.

Moderator for the panel discussion, Senior Education Officer, Patricia Warner, noted that revised protocols would be shared with all principals of primary, secondary and private schools once the decision to reopen schools is made.

Those protocols would be based on logistics that factor in the size and number of students in a classroom. (BGIS)

Source: https://www.nationnews.com/2021/03/19/students-get-advice-safe-return-school/

Why Sitting Too Much Is Bad for Your Health

Checklist to support schools re-opening and preparation for COVID-19 resurgences or similar public health crises

3. Essential actions 

During school reopening phases, it is important to note that schools may need to close, partially close and reopen more than once, depending on the prevailing intensity of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a distinctive administrative and epidemiological unit (e.g. district or subdistrict), as well as on the overall public health situation in the country, locality and/or community. The measures for school reopening are intended to support the implementation of existing measures to enable, monitor and sustain the return to school as equitable and ensuring high-quality education while safeguarding students’ health and well-being. 

Preparations for COVID-19 resurgences are intended to both support and prepare schools by designing plans and protocols for continuing education, and providing training in anticipation of potential resurgences that might result in school closure being decided by national and/or local authorities. In this context “resurgence” refers to the occurrence of an increase in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and/or prevalence of COVID-19-related illness or hospitalizations following a period of cessation or interruption. For instance, this might occur after relaxation of policies to restrict movements or social contacts, resulting in further waves of the pandemic. 

It should also be noted that actions can be taken at any stage. The actions in the checklist are not intended to suggest either uniform or all-or-nothing approaches. Users are urged constantly to adapt the checklist and specific actions – or combinations of actions – in accordance with changing local epidemiological, economic, social and cultural contexts.

3.1 Actions at national level (eight actions)  

National actions by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) should guide school-level interventions. The suggested actions should be implemented on the basis of feasibility and should be adapted to the specific national context and governance systems. 

3.2 Actions at subnational level (nine actions)

Actions implemented through multi-stakeholder coordination include support from municipalities and local education directorates to school-level efforts to implement and sustain protective measures. The suggested actions should be implemented on the basis of the feasibility and should be adapted to the contexts at subnational level.

3.3 Actions at school level (21 actions)

Actions should be implemented by school administrations through co-design and participatory approaches. The suggested actions should be implemented on the basis of feasibility and should be adapted to the specific contexts at the individual school level.  

Adapted from:https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240017467