October 22
Will the vaccine ultimately stop the covid-19 pandemic?
The covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives and lifestyles of all people across the globe. it's almost two years now since the first case was reported in December of 2019.
And at the time of writing, there are already 241,886,635 confirmed cases of COVID-19, close to five million deaths.
With the vaccination drive all over the globe now ongoing, does this mean we will see the end of this crisis soon? Will the vaccine ultimately stop the covid-19 pandemic?
Hello, dear readers. How are you coping up with the pandemic so far? Have you been vaccinated yet?
I have just received the first dose of my vaccine yesterday (October 21). I felt no adverse effects of the vaccine except for the numbness on my shoulder, particularly around where I was jabbed. For a day I can barely lift my left arm without feeling pain. And I had a headache this morning. But the headache was caused by my lack of caffeine since coffee is not allowed within 24 hours after the jab.
Anyways, I had been wondering though if the vaccine is truly enough to stop the covid 19. Or are there some deeper lessons that people should have learned from this pandemic?
In this post, I will share with you my observation and thoughts on this matter.
Disclaimer
I am not a medical expert. Some of you already know that I have an Engineering background and worked in the field of Information Technology. I am not a Social Engineer or have any formal study on behavioral science and whatever science is related to the study of the pandemic and its effect on the environment and society. Most of the content in this article is, again, my observation and personal opinion.
My Observation
When the vaccine became available and was now applied to a considerable number of people, people started to ignore the quarantine protocol. It seems that they are now confident that since they were vaccinated already, they can now go to public places as they wanted.
I have talked with some of the senior citizens in our neighborhood who had received their first jab a few months ago. They were saying that they can go anywhere already because they already had their first jab.
Reports of Increasing Number of Positives and Deaths
Then there were reports of the increasing number of covid 19 positives on areas where most people had been vaccinated already. And there were various reports that some people died a few days or weeks after they received their vaccine.
How Effective is the Vaccine?
This is the question that most people should ask. How effective is the vaccine?
Depending on the brand, the efficiency of the vaccine ranges from 50% to almost 100%. I'm not sure if there is a covid-19 vaccine that is 100% effective. This is based on various reports. (Perhaps you can read this on the WHO, or CDC websites).
Does the Vaccine Take Effect Immediately?
This is another question that people should understand the answer. After I got my job earlier, the health worker explained that it will take up to two months before the anti-bodies against covid to develop. Maybe it is just for the Pfizer brand or maybe the same with the other brands.
And within that two months, those who received the vaccine should avoid alcoholic drinks for two months. Because alcohol could "kill" the anti-bodies before they could fully develop. While the health worker was explaining this, some men reacted. It doesn't matter to me. I've been sober for over two decades already.
While I was sharing this information at home, someone refuted (who did not receive and had no plan to receive the vaccine) that alcoholic drinks can be taken after 6 days.
Here is my thought: If you can't refrain from drinking for two months, you better not take the vaccine. Or know first which vaccine has a shorter incubation period.
My Thoughts on the Efficacy of The Vaccine
As explained by the health worker, and you can also read this online, the vaccine is not a hundred percent guarantee that you will not get infected by the covid-19 virus.
So why take the vaccine anyway?
The vaccine may not be one hundred effective. But by any chance, you got infected, it will not be as deadly. Your body has a better chance to fight off the virus. I compared this logic to what happened to my son when he got chickenpox. He received the vaccine against chickenpox before that. Our pediatrician explained that since he received the chickenpox vaccine, there were very few lesions appeared in his body. Meaning, he could have been in a lot worse condition if he did not receive the vaccine. The same thing with the covid 19.
So, my answer to the question "Will the vaccine ultimately stop the covid19 pandemic?" My answer is NO.
It may drop the number of infected in the coming months. But if the people will go back to the old normal, the people with weaker immune systems will still get infected and, heavens forbid, may still die from the disease.
This now leads me to the next topic.
Are there lessons to be learned or we should have learned from this pandemic?
If you have observed or read the news during the start of the pandemic, the Earth recovered slightly recovered from the effects of the pollution caused by humans.
With the lessened human activities, animals dared go to places where would not go before because of human presence.
The more effective preventive measures against covid19 are to avoid going to crowded places, meaning social distancing.
We can't deny that humans are social animals. We love to interact or socialize with other people. But things must be kept in the balance. If not, then something like this could happen again.
Throughout history, different diseases/plagues had inflicted humanity. Diseases that we could stop from spreading by avoiding certain levels of contact.
People love to rush things. And with the desire to get things done quickly, humans create machines and other things that would help them to do things quickly and easily. But some of these inventions destroy nature. The air pollutants that are emitted by automobiles, factories, and other machines that use fossil fuel. Plastic and other non-biodegradable materials pollute the land and the waters. Which caused the Global Warming phenomenon.
The pandemic caused the reduction of human activities worldwide. Thus the pollution lessened a bit. Even the animals got braver. And went to places that their ancestors once called home but now occupied by humans.
The Main Lesson From the Pandemic?
Humans should learn to do things moderately. To take care of nature, not destroy nature. And not everything that we "feel right" is right.
Final Thoughts
If we have not learned anything from this pandemic, even if the vaccine is able to stop the disease or a cure is discovered soon, we will tend to repeat the same mistakes in the past. And when mother nature gets pissed off again, she will give her human children a mean spanking again. And it could be much meaner than this pandemic (heavens forbid).
Before I close this post, I would like to ask you if you have learned anything from this pandemic. Kindly share your thoughts on the comment below.
Thanks for reading.
Coronavirus Image Source: Image by John Loberiza from Pixabay (Yes! I made this one)
Reference:
Check out my other content at:
Agree. It won’t stop the virus, it can slow down the spread but it can’t stop it. Stay safe!