Take the vaccine!
The arrival of the new COVID- 19 variants has smeared the clean exit from the pandemic that we were all anticipating to achieve after the discovery of vaccines. This is particularly worrying because the biggest fear we have is the possibility of this virus turning out to behave like the flu virus ( influenza). Influenza has an on- going mutation which causes it to be a different strain every flu season. This is the main reason behind people being encouraged to take the flu vaccine every season ( basically every year).
However, perturbing as this is, it comes nowhere close to the potential dangers we might find ourselves into as more and more people refuse to take the vaccine. It’s alarming how people still fall into the pseudo trap of getting consumed by conspiracies and conspiracy theorists despite every factual information ( they so desperately need) being available at their most convenient disposal. A single click of a mouse or finger tap on a gadget on reliable information sources will definitely solve all this confusion that the masses find themselves in.
Let me try to break it down into a more simplified, understandable logic. Firstly, vaccines could never be allowed/ approved to proceed to clinical trials if they do not meet safety requirements. Such requirements are determined during a Pre- Clinical stage ( mostly in the lab and on animals) before they can be tested on humans. Even so, the first stage of the clinical trial ( Phase I) is mainly to test the safety of the vaccine ( on healthy humans) even further, while also observing whether it induces an immune reaction. Any sign or indication of the vaccine causing any unforeseen or undesirable side effects on the human subjects will cause such clinical trial to be halted.
Keep in mind that there are 3 main phases of a clinical trial that the vaccine has to pass before it can be approved to be given to humans for consumption. In pre- COVID times, those would be at least 5- 10years of trials, but because the world is under immense pressure to bring this pandemic under control as soon as possible, a way had to be figured out to find a safe and effective measure in the shortest time possible. This is why vaccines got developed in record time of less than a year. Be assured though that no safety check has been compromised nonetheless.
A number of other public health interventions have been applied but we are still here battling the virus. This just shows you we need a better, more robust solution. These interventions did work to some extent, still working even now, but they are not the ultimate fix. I’m referring to national lockdowns, social distancing, wearing masks, hand sanitizing etc.
If only people were keen to learn facts and reliable information, they would know that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases, proven beyond doubt. They save millions of lives per year, lives that used to be easily lost before vaccines. Conspiracy theorists will always come out