Bet your life?

            Hello, lovelies.

       We’re almost there with this second national lockdown. Christmas is just around the corner. The decorations are going up. Christmas presents are being ordered online. And I’m beginning to think about ordering our Christmas lunch food. Will the shops still have any Christmas crackers left by the time I get there? I have to remember to buy the vegan gravy for my daughter. It’s just the yearly flu jab to get and Christmas is ready. And possibly the new Corona vaccine. But should I have it? Are they rushing it through just so we can get the economy back on its feet? Will the vaccine contain a microchip that will track us for the rest of our lives? Should we take the vaccine to save lives? Or take our chances and hope the virus passes us by.  

            Earlier this year, my youngest daughter was diagnosed with having Crohn’s disease, just as we went in the lockdown. She had to undergo a vast number of tests and medicines. As untreated Crohn’s can lead to cancer, whereas the treatment of Crohn’s can also lead to cancer. But she dealt with it all in an amazing manner. Blood tests weekly. A no food diet for 6 weeks. And incredibly strong drugs that could cause all manner of complications. They also restrict her immune system, so she is incredibly prone to getting any bug that is going around. So, I managed to get her a flu jab. Ouch, it really hurt this year. But then I began thinking about whether I would get her to the front of the queue for this new Corona vaccine.  I have always vaccinated my children with anything that I could get them. I have always known that the injections themselves were going to hurt, but the knowledge that in the great scheme of things, it was definitely for the best. But those vaccines have been around for years. They’ve been tried and tested, and there are no real dangers of having them. Even the MMR vaccine debacle has now been proven to be false. So why all the hesitation for this new one?

            About a month ago, I was scrolling through Facebook, and I happened upon a Ted Talk about the fears and worries of vaccines. And why people become anti-vaxxers. Being against vaccines is nothing new. As long as there have been vaccines, there have been people who objected to them. Refusing vaccines started back in the early 1800s when the smallpox vaccine started being used in large numbers. The idea of injecting someone with a part of a cowpox blister to protect them from smallpox faced a lot of criticism, and I can understand why. Who would want that injected into their bodies? Well, me. If it meant that I wouldn’t catch Smallpox. But then criticism was based on sanitary, religious, and political objections. Even some clergy believed that the vaccine went against their religion. But we have come so far since then. Modern medicine is the best that it has ever been. And yet there are those who still fight against it. Vaccines are a major achievement in the 20th century, but not everyone agrees. And to combat vaccination opposition, laws have been passed that require vaccinations as a measure of public health. And yet it has been discussed more frequently in the news. Concerned parents are opting to forgo vaccinations for their children for many different reasons, and it has resulted in a surge of infectious diseases that had been previously or nearly eradicated.

            The question of vaccine opposition can be a very hot topic. Some people can’t be vaccinated due to a potentially high risk of allergic reactions, but for the rest of us, there is such a small risk. And the benefits really do outweigh the fears. Is it because we can’t trust our governments? Is that why they’re so rejected? Are large pharmaceutical companies trading our safety for high profits? But surely the lawsuits that they would face would stop them from deliberately harming us? Or is it just a mistrust of science that is preventing us from wanting this vaccine? But if we mistrusted science, that wouldn’t make sense at all. We use science every day. You’re using science to read my blog right now. Everything we use around us has its origins in science. When we google online, that’s science. Make a phone call. Read an E-reader. Drive a car. Take paracetamol. Have a hot shower. Fly in a plane. Everything. We use antibiotics. And there is a whole list of chemicals in there that I can hardly pronounce, let alone understand what’s in them. And yet, I wouldn’t dream of not taking them if I was ill. But if there is a general mistrust in science, people are less likely to vaccinate.   

            But, unfortunately, the decision not to vaccinate doesn’t just affect those who don’t do it. It affects us all. Not vaccinating has led to the re-emergence of infectious diseases in areas where they had been eradicated or nearly gone.  Vaccine-preventable diseases have not gone away. They haven’t magically disappeared by the introduction to vaccines. The viruses and bacteria that cause illness and death still exist and can be passed on to those who are not protected by vaccines. Vaccinations throughout your life will protect you against many infections. When you skip vaccines, you leave yourself vulnerable to illnesses such as shingles, pneumococcal disease, influenza, and HPV and hepatitis B, both leading causes of cancer. They can mean the difference between life and death. They are safe. They won’t actually give you the disease they’re designed to prevent. You cannot catch the disease from the vaccine. Some vaccines contain the killed virus, and it is impossible to get the disease from them. Others have the live, but weakened, viruses designed to ensure that you cannot catch the disease. It’s all win-win!

            It doesn’t matter what age you are, how strong and fit you are. If you don’t vaccinate you are open to catch a deadly disease. If you don’t vaccinate and get sick, your children, grandchildren and parents are at risk, too.

            So, if it’s all just a great big conspiracy theory, are you willing to bet your life by not vaccinating against the new deadly pandemic? Will you trust what you see by uneducated people on the internet? Or put your trust in those who had dedicated their lives to finding vaccines against diseases that will kill you? Are you willing to bet your life?