COVID Vaccines
Why is everyone so worried if I get one? Can’t we all just mind our own business?
I get it, it is absolutely your personal choice, and no one wants to be forced into a medical decision. However, your choice does have consequences for other people, and that’s where things get complicated. The more people who are unvaccinated, the higher the chance that newer, stronger variants will appear, eventually one that the vaccine won’t be effective against. It’s kind of like a group project; those who are vaccinated would love for you not to ruin things for the rest of the team.
My biggest concern personally is that my son is eleven and a half years old. Which means that he’s not quite old enough to be vaccinated. So when I hear people say that “anyone who wants the vaccine can have it, so you should quit whining if I don’t want to,” they are somehow forgetting this entire population of minors who aren’t old enough to get it, and also not old enough to have a say in whether they are exposed. If one more person says to me “kids can’t get it” or “it’s not as serious” I will likely kick them in the shin. Kids can get it. We don’t know the long term effects. I don’t want to play games with my kids health.
But it’s experimental, and that makes me nervous
Pfizer has actually been fully authorized. However the kids vaccine, when it comes out will likely be in emergency use status for a bit. If you’re curious what that means, you can see the process they have to go through here. It has been rigorously tested, standards have not been sacrificed, and they have this EU authorization in place for cases just like this; where the long process could cost lives. Also, I think it bears saying that long term effects from vaccines are basically nonexistent. Long term effects from illnesses (measles, polio) are common. We’ve already seen evidence of COVID-19 lingering in many cases. I think that the risks of the illness outweigh the risks of the vaccine, hands down. If you’re interested in the process that it takes to get full approval vs. EU approval, there is a great article here, that explains it. Basically it’s even more testing, and a lot of quality control checks with the manufacturing of the product.
Why do all the rules keep changing?
Well, because the virus keeps changing. Also, more data is coming in every day, and sometimes that means adjusting how you deal with the situation. Think about an FBI agent in a crisis situation. They may go into it with one plan of attack, but then they find out that the bad guys have 50 more people than they thought, or that they have a bomb. Hopefully when they found out this new information, they would adjust their plans accordingly. The scientists also have to try and come up with the best solution based on information as it comes to them.
That’s why I take the “better safe than sorry” stance. Is a mask going to hurt me? Nope. Could going without a mask have a greater risk of exposing me or my family? Yup. There are a lot of other nuances to this and everyone’s situation is different, so I don’t suggest that it’s this simple for everyone in every situation. But I don’t feel coerced or like I’m living in fear. I feel like I’m just making a smart decision based on the information that I have.