VACCINE DILEMMA
FROM THE birth of vaccination, a dilemma has existed. There have always been proponents and antagonists. Thank God, most people have followed the science, otherwise the human population would be a significantly smaller subset of who we are today!
The wonder of such a statement. It’s epic nature! And it’s truth! Many people who argue against vaccinations exist today because of vaccinations. Without them, their family line would have become extinct from smallpox or polio decades ago.
The last time I saw whooping cough in Jamaica was decades ago when I worked at the Bustamante Hospital for Children. A beautiful boy, about four years of age, just coughed and coughed that loud, whooping sound, which made us all so fearful for his life. And with good reason, for he didn’t survive! My heart broke.
You only have to experience something like that once, to become convinced that vaccination against mortal enemies, which include several bacteria and viruses, is very important. I have never been able to forget that young man. What could he have brought to his family and to Jamaica had he lived? Yet, I am hearing that whooping cough has reared its ugly head here again because of growing vaccine hesitancy!
Such a dilemma! Had the family doctors and private physicians here in Jamaica been included from the beginning in the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccinations, there would have been a much more robust vaccine uptake! Now we are included, when the vaccine uptake remains below 35 per cent and our patients have heard umpteen different stories against vaccination, which, given the chance upfront, could have been resolved, one-onone, with their family doctors.
Frankly, now it’s a vastly different story, spelling frustration on the part of the physicians as well as the patients. Physicians have always given vaccines in their private offices, but the COVID vaccinations were singled out as different. A tragic mistake, and a lack of foresight on the part of the planners worldwide!
We are left only with the hope that between vaccinations and infections, enough citizens have been exposed to give us the status of ‘herd immunity’. But without significant antibody testing there will be no scientific documentation. Family doctors watch with concern the deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID infection, which give the best guide to what is happening.
We are now seeing great numbers of patients, after surviving COVID infections, with heart disease, including heart attacks; strokes; renal complications; clotting disorders, which have led to limb amputations and eye disease. The neurologists are seeing people with ‘brain fog’, dementia and fatigue. Some are lost to us who, before, were significant contributors to our economy, but who will forever need medical care. This burden of illness will require years to quantify financially, but it is significant, and growing larger.
So, why not vaccinate? Vaccinations are not perfect, but they offer significant respite from ‘long COVID’ chronic diseases.
Older people can recall British Prime minister Sir Winston Churchill saying, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself!” The vaccine dilemma is impractical. What I say to my patients, and on behalf of all family doctors, is,”Visit our offices, have the conversation about taking the COVID-19 vaccine before turning your back on it!”