Is it safe for ‘60+ year olds’ to get vaccinated

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                                 Is it safe for ‘60+ year olds’ to get vaccinated


The government of India had declared vaccination available for everyone above the age of 60 on March 1, 2021, given their vulnerability to the virus. Since then, many seniors have been vaccinated on a regular basis every day. Yet, the fear behind its side effects still leaves many dubious. Here’s everything you need to know about the vaccine before taking it. 

How does the vaccine work?

India is currently using 2 vaccines Covishield by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. Both these vaccines have to be administered in 2 doses. It is recommended to have a gap of 4-6 weeks between each dose for Covaxin and a gap of 4-8 weeks for Covishield. Emergency approval of the Russian vaccine Sputnik has also been given due to the reported shortage of vaccines from several states. The recommended gap between each dose for Sputnik is 21 days. The motive of all the 3 vaccines is to build an immunity against the virus in your body. But each vaccine does it in a different way.

Covaxin:

This is an inactivated vaccine that contains dead Covid virus. So, the virus won’t be able to replicate in your body but, the body would still try to kill the foreign organism. Hence, when the virus actually infects you, your body would stimulate an immune response at super-speed due to its prior memory. 

Sputnik:

This uses an adenovirus vector (the virus that causes the common cold) which acts as a carrier of the spike protein from the actual coronavirus. When the vector enters our cells it would hijack our nucleus into synthesizing these proteins. These spike proteins then attach to the outside of your cells. This foreign body triggers an immune response that kills all the cells with spikes (vaccinated cells). When the actual coronavirus infects us, our body quickly stimulates the immune system due to its memory and prevents more cells from getting affected.

Covishield:

This uses the same adenovirus but modified to look like the coronavirus. This way the illness cannot be caused in our body but our immune cells would’ve recognized the virus. So, when the actual infection takes place our body would activate a swifty immune response.

Cost and procedure for vaccination:

You can get vaccinated by registering beforehand in the Co-win app 2.0 or via the Co-win website which is a very simple process. Covishield is sold to government hospitals at Rs 400 per vaccine and Rs 600 per vaccine for private hospitals. Covaxin is sold at Rs 600 for government hospitals and Rs 1200 for private hospitals. Imported Sputnik vaccine is sold at an MRP of Rs 995.40 per dose. The vaccines are completely free for everyone in government hospitals. But, you would have to pay for the vaccination if you’re taking it in a private hospital. The cost might increase from the above price if the hospital chooses to apply service charges.

Points to note while vaccinating:


  1. It is very important to take your second dose after the time gap for the proper functioning of the vaccine.

  2. It would take at least 2 weeks for the vaccine to begin working. So, you still have a chance of getting infected in the meantime and the vaccine might not be able to offer complete protection. Hence, it is important to follow all precautions even after vaccinating.

  3. Even if the vaccines contain a part of the virus or inactivated virus, you wouldn’t get infected because of the vaccine.

  4. The vaccines won’t stop or entirely prevent infection. They help the body to trigger a quicker immune response and fight against the virus. So, you can still get infected after taking the vaccine. 

  5. There can be mild to moderate side effects due to the vaccines which include nausea, headache, fatigue, weakness, chills, body pain, injection site tenderness or pain, mild fever. These can be observed after any vaccination and is a sign that the vaccine is working. So, there is no need to panic.

  6. It is essential that you do not have any symptoms of covid, cold, fever, or other such issues for 3 weeks before vaccinating. While your body is already fighting against the agents that caused the above issues, the vaccine could over-burden your body and make things worse.


It is not only safe for people above the age of 60 to vaccinate, it is more than essential for them to do so. Their vulnerability and possibility of having other pre-existing illnesses which could make their health condition adverse if infected by the virus makes vaccination their need of the hour. There are more than 10 crore people in India above the age of 60. It is vital to protect them as 50% of deaths due to covid has been among the elderly population. Vaccinating them is also a key way to stop the spread. So, let’s get vaccinated and stay protected. 

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