Disclaimer – I would never suggest that I know more than anyone about their own personal health and situations, and I do know that there are people who are unable to take vaccines – or whose medical team has indicated it would not be advisable. I also know there are religious components to the vaccine situation, and I will not intersperse my opinion on anyone else’s religious ideology, as mine does not prohibit vaccines. I realize that there are people that have very specific situations that make being vaccinated problematic – this does not address them. They are people making decisions with thought and knowledge behind them – and often in conjunction with consultation with experts.
There’s been a lot of commentary about vaccines lately, and like the decision whether or not to physically go to the office, or open schools, or allow indoor dining, have causes controversy, so will this. I’ve said repeatedly that I am willing to be vaccinated – below please find my (very long) explanation as to why I have no problem taking a COVID vaccine. I claim no expertise on vaccines, viruses, immunology, or science in general. In fact, I write this from the perspective of someone that 1) doesn’t get science and 2) failed biology in high school.
It is true that this vaccine has been developed very quickly, and it can raise red flags. I will start this by saying that the chicken pox vaccine came out when my children were young, and it was new, so I refused to give it to my children. They got chicken pox, and they were fine. The difference? How many people do you know that die of chicken pox?
But the idea that it’s “too new” is a little silly, when you look at the fact that it’s not likely the FDA would approve something without a solid confidence that it was safe. Yes, I get that it’s an emergency approval. But they’re not going to approve something they think is unsafe just to get it out there.
Let’s look at this logically – this is a virus we’ve seen permutations of in the past – there have been people working on this for years, so certain things are already known. They know the “basics” of some of the components they’re dealing with, some of the conditions they need to maintain (which would absolutely affect trial and error in the past), and other little things that can affect the time it takes to develop something (like, it takes the oven 20 minutes to preheat, so it will take an extra 20 minutes to cook dinner- we didn’t know that last Thanksgiving, but we know it now, so we’ll be able to plan mealtime more accurately).. They know how some ingredients work together, and which ones actually don’t. It is true that they are dealing with a new virus they don’t fully understand, and yes, it will take trial and error before they know for sure what works and what doesn’t. But they’re starting the process ahead of the game.
Might there be negative side effects? Of course. But by the time the general public gets this vaccine, the short-term effects will have been documented significantly. And if you want to avoid long-term effects, well, in my case, I’ll be dead before they’ve determined what those are. I can’t wait THAT long.
A lot of the length of time it takes to develop a vaccine is trial and error, but it’s not always trial and error about the vaccine itself. Sometimes it’s the temperature something has been kept at – oops, that didn’t work, have to go back to the drawing board. Sometimes it’s putting two ingredients together, diminishing the effect of either. Oops, have to try that again. They already know so much of that, a lot of the “trial and error” will be eliminated.
The other consideration is the sheer NUMBER of researchers working on this right now. I work with epidemiologists, scientists, and medical doctors who are educating people in public health. While I don’t automatically think the people I work with are the exclusive last word, they absolutely know more than I do about such things, and like other laboratories around the world, mobilized very quickly when the virus hit. I have watched them for almost a year – I’ve catalogued the articles they’re compiling to write their grants; I’m editing the articles they’re writing themselves; I’ve ordered the supplies they need to perform their clinical trials. I’ve watched them put other research aside – or try to adapt it to COVID – as they doubled down their efforts to figure this out.
My point is I am in ONE university – in ONE division – working with a limited number (<50) of faculty. They are by far not the only people working on this. Many people put their “regular” research aside to double back on COVID. There are a lot of researchers working on this virus that are putting it above other research they were doing. Everyone is trying to figure out how to get the earth back on its axis – at the same time. And that’s not even considering the medical doctors that have been documenting what happens with their own patients – and what they’ve tried that has and hasn’t worked.
It’s kind of like if your house is a mess, and it’s going to take you two hours to clean a room. If you have 4 rooms, it’s ridiculous to think you’ll clean the house properly in two hours. If three people show up to help you, though, it’s a whole other ball game. Many hands make light work, so to speak.
Based on what I read and hear when I monitor meetings, type minutes, and write grant applications, my faculty know what they’re talking about – not because they’re part of big pharma, or because they’re getting money from lobbyists, or because they are having their egos stroked, but because they read, and write, and run laboratories, and perform research – they share information with each other, and every time something “dings,” they discuss it. A majority of the emails “see” (those I am not obligated to read because I am only copied for posterity) are informational articles about respiratory systems, immune systems, etc. – and this was long before COVID hit. Right now, many of my faculty are participating in vaccine trials – the trials are voluntary, and my faculty are all doctors and public health experts. Unlike me, they understand a lot of these words and actually recognize what they’re looking at under a microscope. They are not obligated to participate, they have families that would be affected if they were to suffer serious side effects, and they do not consider themselves guinea pigs. They are willingly allowing something to be injected into their bodies. I’m trusting they’re not doing that blindly. They would not put their own personal health at risk.
On top of that, it’s going to be months – if not a full year – before I am eligible to get vaccinated, and by that time, there will be many people I know in health care that would have already received it. And by many, I mean millions. The average person is not getting this vaccine right out of the box. And if the people in my family who are in health care are willing to take the vaccine before me, that gives me even more confidence.
And finally, it stands to reason that this vaccine would be developed more quickly than others – we are smarter, have more technology, and know more than we did yesterday – much less decades ago.
Yes, I can read and do my own research. But if you honestly think you have the ability to analyze data to the level the people I work with have, that is an ego issue I can’t even begin to address. It’s ridiculous to think my BA in Criminal Justice, ability to look something up on WebMD or Google, or “friend who works in a lab,” have the same level of knowledge or expertise as these people, and so, their opinions carry less weight for me.
When it comes to making the decision for myself, I’m going to trust that people would not have been consistently getting millions of dollars in grant money, along with national recognition, for decades, if they didn’t have some level of knowledge – and that level is far above that of probably every single person I socialize with.
All that being said, I respect anyone’s concern or hesitation, and I would never insist someone else get vaccinated. However, while other people may scream about rights, I firmly believe that, if it’s determined that the vaccine is safe and effective, an employer or public school system has the right and responsibility to make it mandatory – and I believe that, until we find out exactly HOW effective this vaccine actually is, those that choose not to be vaccinated should identify themselves, so we know.
As for me, like every other vaccination, I am just going to assume everyone around me is not vaccinated and take care of myself. Now move the hell out of my way and let me roll up my sleeve.
Don’t take my word for it, look it up yourself.