Project Ask the Doctor of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation: About Vaccination, Travel and Coronavirus Prevention

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation continues to cover the topic of the coronavirus treatment and prevention involving the country’s leading healthcare experts. A physician, an endocrinologist, and a cell therapy specialist Kateryna Komisarenko was the guest of the next live broadcast of the project Ask the Doctor. 
The expert informed the audience that the EU plans to allow entry without PCR tests and mandatory self-isolation for tourists who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinovac and Moderna. However, there may be restrictions for visitors vaccinated with vaccines produced in some countries. It is not planned to cancel mandatory tests for travellers vaccinated with Sputnik V. The doctor also advised Ukrainians who will go on vacation abroad not to ignore the precautionary rules.

‘When people get vaccinated, it does not mean that they are immortal. They have 95-96% security. If they go, for example, to Turkey and come across a certain virus, then they have a high probability of not getting a severe course of disease. However, there is still some risk that they can become infected and can infect their close family members with COVID-19 upon their return home,’ the therapist explained.

Kateryna Komisarenko recommended people who have chronic diseases to take a thoughtful approach to the question of vaccination against the coronavirus. 
‘At the time of vaccination, a person should have a good health condition – should not have any other inflammatory diseases, symptoms of flu or respiratory viral infection such as cough, runny nose or fever. This is important because after vaccination antibodies begin to be produced and the entire immune system focuses on this. As a precaution from possible side effects, I would recommend you to have a general blood test before vaccination to check if you have had an asymptomatic coronavirus in recent days. And if you are right-handed, to have an injection made in your left arm, and if you are left-handed, then in your right arm. This is because after vaccination there is a risk of local inflammation,’ said the doctor.

She also recommended to protect the body from stress and avoid excessive physical activity during a week after vaccination:

‘If a person vaccinated against the coronavirus allows something that "complicates the life" of their immune system, it means they do not let antibodies develop properly. You should not go swimming in cold water, if you do not do it regularly; you should not go to a concert where there are a lot of people and you can catch a seasonal infectious disease. After vaccination, you need to keep your immune system rested and without physical exercise for one day, and you should not work out in the gym or overload yourself with alcohol during a week.’ 

Therapist and endocrinologist Kateryna Komisarenko is the twenty-ninth expert of the project Ask the Doctor. Earlier, the audience’s questions about the coronavirus were answered by Borys Todurov, a cardiac surgeon, a professor and the director of the Heart Institute, Yevhen Komarovskyi, a famous paediatrician of the country, Oleksandr Zaika, an immunologist of the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health, Oleh Chaban, a psychiatrist, a Doctor of Medical Sciences, a professor, Serhiy Dubrov, the President of the Association of Anaesthesiologists of Ukraine, and other experts. The recordings of live broadcasts in the framework of the project Ask the Doctor are available for watching on the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation’s Facebook and YouTube pages. About 10 million people have watched the project’s programs on the Foundation’s digital platforms.

‘The project Ask the Doctor of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation contributes to establishing better communication between patients and doctors. It is very important now to give the opportunity to speakers from the healthcare sector to reach out to various segments of people,’ said Kateryna Komisarenko.
Patients whom doctors helped save their lives and health during the pandemic can take part in the national campaign from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation  #ThankDoctors. Follow the link and tell everyone about the people in white coats who saved you or your loved ones from the coronavirus!