Originally published in Hideaway Lake News on Jan 29, 2021
Yes folks, they have arrived! I’m talking about the greatest celebrities in the world right now – the COVID-19 vaccines. They have been a miraculous achievement of modern science, technology, engineering, manufacturing, storage, transportation and distribution. So many people all over the world had to come together to make the unthinkable happen. When they started talking about a vaccine by the end of the year in 2020, I scoffed. History told me that the average vaccine takes 8-10 years to produce and the fastest vaccine to market prior to the pandemic took four years. There was no way any vaccine, let alone a safe and effective one, was going to be ready within months. Or so I thought. But I am thrilled to have been proven wrong! We now have not one, but three, and likely several more in the coming months. Not only have they been manufactured, they are being distributed and administered to healthcare workers and high risk general public despite the many challenges involved.
The efficacy has been very clear with the mRNA vaccines – 95% reduction in severe disease with two shots. These vaccines produce a robust immune response, which means they are also likely to produce the side effects associated with that response – sore arm, fevers, body aches, fatigues, chills and headaches. These have all proven to be temporary and resolve in a few days. No severe reactions were observed during the trials, but after the vaccine was administered to over 2 million people, a handful experienced life threatening anaphylactic shock, all of whom recovered fully with prompt medical care. Most of them had a history of anaphylaxis, so if you have a previous history of severe allergic reactions, talk to your doctor before you get the vaccine.
Some people are concerned about the long term side effects such as autoimmune reactions. We probably won’t know until the vaccine has been out for a few months. Such events are most likely going to be very rare, just like the anaphylactic reactions. So if you are a person at high risk for severe disease from the virus, your likelihood of dying from the virus is much higher than of getting a long term side effect. On the other hand, if you are a person at very low risk of severe disease, such as a child or a young adult with no underlying medical conditions, then you may choose to wait until the higher risk people are vaccinated and we have more population data available.
Our supply of the vaccines is limited right now, so please don’t find loopholes to get vaccinated if you are not at high risk for severe disease. If you are young and healthy with no medical conditions, then even if you are in a job at a high risk for exposure, you are not at a high risk for severe disease if you do get infected. Please allow our most vulnerable populations, the elderly and the sick, some of whom have been sheltering at home for months, to get their vaccines first. If you get infected without the vaccine, it will only cost you 10-14 days of mild cold-like symptoms, but for them the vaccine could be life saving.
Since we currently only know that the vaccines prevent severe disease and don’t know if they prevent transmission, we unfortunately still have to continue to take precautions like social distancing and masking even if we get vaccinated, until we have more data or we have achieved herd immunity through vaccination. It is going to take several months for the vaccine to get to everyone. Let’s be patient, cautious and hopeful for life to return to normal. We will be hugging our loved ones and gathering in large celebrations before too long.
Best of health and happiness to everyone in the new year!