We are individual humans with free will. Today, I made the choice to receive the COVID vaccine. It was not a decision that was made lightly. After all, there are numerous unknowns regarding the vaccine that can only become knowns with time. And right now I feel we do not have a great deal of time. Do we all wish we knew all the risks of the COVID vaccine? Absolutely. Can we? No, that is impossible at this time.
My decision is personal. I will absolutely respect your decision to either accept the vaccine, or not accept it. Again, I am no one to judge nor fight anyone. I am not a vaccine expert. My job is to take care of patients on the brink of death. You take the information provided in the literature and make your decision. My decision was to be one of the first to receive the vaccine. I have done my homework reviewing the best possible data, as imperfect as it is. My posts have not touched the subject of vaccines because I did not want to get into debates with people about things that are neither proven nor unproven. But I have made the decision to put my money where my mouth is and get vaccinated.
I have gotten the COVID vaccine because we have a problem. We are in a pandemic. Mandatory masking, social distancing, washing hands, are all fine and dandy but this virus is ripping through society despite our best efforts to qualm it. Lockdowns cause more harm than good. Some might point fingers at what some call “bad apples” in society but even the most regimented societies, (i.e. Japan and South Korea) are getting burned right now pretty bad. That being said, something needs to be done. New Zealand can have zero cases because they’re a small island and they closed their borders. Something we cannot do.
Herd immunity without a vaccine will be too costly for society to bare. Not only will lives be lost but keeping businesses closed is not acceptable. The ones making those decisions are still getting paid for their jobs. Those of us in healthcare are mostly all still able to put food on the table for our families throughout the pandemic. We have mostly shrugged our shoulders to neighbors who have invested their livelihoods into their businesses and are watching them collapse.
My opinion is that herd immunity will only occur through vaccines. I erroneously thought that this was going to burn out like other viruses have in the past such as H1N1, SARS and MERS. Unfortunately, it has not. I thought the summer was going to kill it. I was wrong. Wishful thinking I guess. But as we went from one COVID winter to spring, summer, fall, and another winter. We must come to the realization that this virus isn’t going anywhere.
In the meantime, we are missing out on this short life while others are losing theirs. We in healthcare are high risk. We are in the trenches and have watched our colleagues and teammates get sick. Some have even watched those we know succumb to this virus. I need to be able to spend time with my parents. My old man is sick and I don’t know how much time I have with him. If getting the vaccine gives me some sort of protection so I can spend time with him, so be it. If getting the COVID vaccine will allow me to start interacting more in society, I’ll take it. I want to get back into jiu-jitsu. I want to be able to travel without fear of bringing something home. This life is short. We cannot continue to be trapped indoors in fear of what’s outside.
I have gotten the COVID vaccine. Will it be the cure, probably not. Will I still potentially get COVID even with the vaccine? Possibly. Will it decrease transmissibility? Perhaps. Do I know everything? Absolutely not. Do I wish we had more data? Yes. Is the benefit greater than the risk? My decision to receive the vaccine reflects my thoughts on that.
CLICK HERE to check out my other articles about COVID-19. Update: HERE are my thoughts on Biden’s Vaccine Mandate.
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