Central Lab Studying Effect of Vaccine in Preventing COVID in Frontline Workers

Geraldine Morazan

And to prove whether the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective for the Belizean population, the Belize Central Lab is undertaking a study in collaboration with Baylor Studies of Medicine using blood samples from seven hundred frontline health workers.  The samples were taken before the vaccine was administered; these included those who contracted COVID-19 and those who did not, before taking their first shot.  Another set of samples were then taken after the first dose of vaccine was administered.  Laboratory Director at the Central Lab, Geraldine Morazan told us more about this study.

Geraldine Morazan, Laboratory Director, Ministry of Health & Wellness

“We saw that four to six weeks after the first vaccine, people that were negative started to positive response, having positive test, meaning that anti-bodies were detected against COVID. Meaning that, AstraZeneca is causing our bodies to produce anti-bodies against COVID. AstraZeneca is a vaccine that is working and doing its job. We then waited for the people to get their second vaccine. So those changes because some people got it in January, some got it in May. So, we are asking that people that get their second vaccine, after four to six weeks, we got another draw of blood and get another test. We have seen so far that a lot of people started to see their antibodies count higher than the first one. So, for the instance, at the baseline, somebody who had never been in contact with COVID was zero point eight. After the first vaccine, four weeks after that we test them, and they were four point zero. And after the second dosage, after that we took the sample and now, we have eight point three. So that gives us assurance that the AstraZeneca is working, that we are producing antibodies against the COVID.”