For the common good we should all get vaccinated
THERE was a feeling of spring in the air and a sense of lightness and of joie de vivre permeated the room. People were smiling at each other, not that I could see their lips, but their eyes told it all. As each name was called, we jumped up and gratefully accepted the piece of paper handed to us with our details on it. This was the scene in the vaccination room last Wednesday.
The whole process lasted 20 minutes. It was run with military efficiency. I have never known myself looking forward to receiving an injection with such enthusiasm. But that was my emotion as I spotted a glimmer of light peeping through the fog of illness and death. The needle was small so there was very little pain and the 15-minute supervised wait afterwards, lest there was an allergic reaction, seemed more like five. A bruise on my arm and a healthy tiredness were all I experienced the following day. I slept for 10 hours that night. There will be another injection in two weeks.
The joy of receiving the vaccine overshadowed the reality that Ireland has been a slow starter in the fight back against the coronavirus. Around 1.6pc of our population has had the first jab compared to 6.3pc in Northern Ireland. The figure for England is 5.49pc and for Israel 23.89pc, making it the world leader. Nonetheless we are the 6th highest in the EU.
While the vast majority of people are willing to take the vaccine, 70pc a few weeks ago and now up to 80pc according to a recent opinion poll, there remains some anti-vaxxers who in principle refuse, believing it to be unsafe and an infringement of human rights. While this has its origins in 18th century United States, when religious leaders viewed vaccines as the devil’s work, more recently the blame for refusal has rested with the presumed side-effects.
A famous case arose in 1998 when Andrew Wakefield, a British former doctor, published a paper in the Lancet suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The paper was retracted by the journal and Dr Wakefield lost his licence to practise following a medical hearing in London. No study has been published finding such a link, although the reduction in vaccination caused by this episode continues to the present.
While small in number, anti-vaxxers have a strong presence on social media. There are of course legitimate concerns about the safety of vaccines that are cruple cially important, particularly since some in the past few years have been associated with serious side-effects.
One concern expressed to me relates to the speed with which the vaccine has been developed. Has it been adequately tested? Those charged with developing the rollout of the anti-Covid vaccine should not dismiss all who express such concerns as mavericks, fanatics or extremists, although some may be.
The effectiveness of vaccines in combating polio, measles and mumps cannot be forgotten and most doctors will never see a polio case in their lifetime. Yet in 1950 there were 16,000 cases each year in the US with 1,800 deaths and serious neurological disability.
The world-famous violinist Itzhak Perlman contracted polio when he was four and has used crutches ever since; he uses a scooter to enter and exit the stage for recitals and he remains seated.
Recent trials on more than 43,000 peohave shown that the vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech is 95pc effective at preventing symptoms. This is the one in use in Ireland at present. Others have been made by Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and AstraZeneca of Cambridge/ Oxford. All have been tested in clinical trials and shown to be promising in preventing symptoms.
But there are questions: one is what are the side-effects? These can be deciphered from the studies already conducted and so far they seem mild. It has been noted that 23 people over the age of 80, frail and with underlying medical conditions, who received the vaccine have died in Norway. It is unclear if it was the cause as the post-mortem examinations are continuing. One company is now conducting trials in those over 65, so the safety in older age groups will become apparent.
What happens if the vaccine is given to a person already infected by the virus? Does it worsen the symptoms or reduce them? So far information on this is only available in 170 cases with Covid-19 from the Pfizer data base and the results of this are awaited, although a larger sample will be needed to provide accuracy.
Finally, how long will immunity last and will boosters be needed? This question cannot be answered yet since the vaccine is too new, but this will clearly need to be monitored in those vaccinated with follow-up studies.
Many questions remain unanswered and it behoves the relevant authorities to address these openly and honestly.
For my part I had no hesitation, based on the information available, in taking the vaccine.
It is our only hope of restoring our freedoms and our wellbeing. The common good demands we take this step.
They should not dismiss all who have concerns as mavericks and cranks