It is mind-boggling to see the number of people infected by the COVID 19 and its variants, the worst is the number of reported deaths. Hearing from some people I met, it is stressful when suddenly one of your neighbors is listed as Patients Under Monitoring (PUM), and the more stressful moment when you’re one of the suspected persons infected with COVID 19. Most stressful if you are infected and ordered to transfer to the isolation facilities. The trauma of waiting for results for several tests seems ‘unbearable’ hoping for a negative test. Looking at the data of COVID 19 is so alarming, it may lead somebody to ask “Is there hope for humanity?” Is a vaccine an absolute solution to all of this? What do you think? Feel free to comment on this article.
Diseases and Vaccines
Looking at the data of diseases and vaccines at the WHO international, there is a listing of diseases with available vaccines and diseases with vaccines under development of ‘pipeline vaccines. It is worthy to know that there are diseases that are currently prevailing but continuously fought through time-tested vaccines. Some of these are malaria, cholera, measles, mumps, hepatitis, dengue. Except for COVID-19 vaccines which came out very recently due to the pandemic that affected all sectors of society at all levels.
The general effects and benefits of vaccines and vaccination is very laudable as it curves the overarching effect of diseases that are not treatable or even prevention is impossible except to apply vaccination. However, there are facts and probably minute aspects of the vaccine and vaccination process that shouldn’t be ignored as this also pose risks, higher risks rather to patients or vaccine recipients. For example, Dengvaxia for dengue would cause a higher risk of other diseases or even dengue if administered to a patient who was not contracted with the disease before. This spurs controversies in the medical and even political arena at least in the Philippines as the first country adopted Dengvaxia for the mass vaccination program. This kind of fact shall be disclosed and to be explained well to parents of recipients or to the recipients himself/herself, and be considered BEFORE in the vaccination process.
Vaccine Refusal: What Causes It?
COVID-19 Vaccine also is not exempted from criticism and negative comments from the perspectives of common people. This is because SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is one of several viruses that evolve over time. When a virus replicates or repeats itself, it sometimes varies slightly, as is common for a virus. Mutations are the term for these shifts. A “variant” of the original virus is one that has one or more additional mutations. So, what do you think is the issue? The issue is how the newly developed COVID-19 vaccines catch up with the mutations of SARS-CoV-2 to make it effective and eventually relevant to the constantly evolving cases of the COVID-19 pandemic? The data of affected cases and death speaks for itself despite the already ongoing vaccinations program across “ready” countries. We might think that the problem is not merely on the vaccine itself, but in totality, the perspective will zero in the effectiveness of the vaccine, whatever the circumstances were.
On the other hand, according to some studies, there are four (4) reasons for vaccine refusal either by parents or the recipients themselves. Religious motives, personal convictions or moral purposes, privacy considerations, and a need for more information from healthcare professionals fall within the four groups of reasons. I personally validate some of this claim since I myself, and my wife are reluctant of the said vaccines, that even until today we still didn’t avail of the vaccine. Also, I happened to talk to some of the neighbors, coincidentally they share the same sentiments.
Further, the dengue disease vaccination program in the Philippines using Dengvaxia by Sanofi causes social trauma, legal cases filed, and political finger-pointing that resulted in high impact “Vaccine Hesitancy”. Vaccine hesitancy is a relatively new concept that has been used in literature in recent years to characterize someone that has reservations about vaccines or tries to postpone or reject immunizations even though they are readily accessible. It is very clear to me that the adoption of Dengvaxia and the mass vaccination is the most premature and careless decision ever made.
How is the Dengvaxia case related to COVID-19 vaccines? I think it’s the perception. I personally feel that. And that’s my perspective right now. But talking about the present COVID 19 pandemic and its variants leaves me no other options but to avail the vaccines that at the very least protect us from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. Otherwise, I have to isolate myself in the very far-flung areas and receive no physical interactions with other people except my family.
My Thoughts Sketch
I am hesitant with the current vaccines of COVID-19. Even though WHO has intensely reviewed and updated information and vaccine capability every two days (I doubt this), the mass production of vaccines is outweighed by the speed of the transmission and mutation of the SARS-CoV-2. These thoughts could be less informed if not uninformed at all, but I could say how much more those people have no access to information regarding these issues. The situation in the bigger picture tells me that I have no other options but to accept or avail COVID 19 vaccination program in spite of my hesitancy to do so.
Lead Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay .
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