Addressing Vaccine Hesitation
As a community and as a nation, we are in a challenging position regarding the ongoing vaccination effort to fight COVID-19 and end this pandemic. That challenge is vaccine hesitancy and the impact it could have on prolonging the pandemic and the possible generation of new variants. This comes on the heels of Governor Wolf’s announcement that when PA reaches a 70% vaccination rate we can, officially, stop wearing masks.
For the record, and to be perfectly clear, I am not a doctor. Nor am I trained in pathology or epidemiology. In this article, I simply want to provide information and resources from credible sources on why we need everyone to get vaccinated and the truth behind some of the misinformation that is out there. I hope this article will convince some to get the COVID-19 vaccine if they have not already and help us reach that 70% threshold. However, that is unlikely based on what I know about how people make decisions on this challenging topic and the sources they turn to for advice.
Instead, I am asking all of you to reach out to your family members, your friend, and your loved ones who might be vaccine hesitant, and discuss this critical conversation with them. I would encourage you to not be judgmental or dismissive of their concerns. For some, their concerns are grounded in facts (like the Tuskegee Airman Study). For others, they may not have all the information and just need to hear it from someone they trust. The reality is that we all need to continue to participate in fighting this pandemic. For everyone, that means being a part of helping us reach a vaccination rate that would finally end this pandemic once and for all. If you can convince even one person, we are all better for it.
Here are some of the common myths/challenges, and realities, of the COVID-19 vaccine:
It all came together too fast: The vaccine did come together very quickly. However, that is not because corners were cut, or rules were broken. Instead, there was existing technology and research to build off that helped the process along. For example, scientists had already mapped the genome of similar Coronaviruses and had already been working on vaccines and therapies for those versions. As this Healthline article highlights:
“Before the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, arrived and started causing COVID-19, there was much research done on similar coronaviruses called SARS and MERS. The University of Oxford had begun work on SARS, and so when SARS kind of went away and didn’t turn into a global pandemic, the research kind of stopped on that vaccine [additionally,] Both the mRNA and adenovirus technologies behind the COVID-19 vaccines were built on decades of research and experience. The scientific community wasn’t starting from scratch. Adenovirus and mRNA technology has been used in humans for decades. These are not new technologies. It’s mature, safe technology that was tailored and employed to fight this pandemic. In fact, […] Moderna has been working strictly on mRNA for years.”
Concerned about side-effects: The common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine include a sore arm or no reaction at all, to flu like symptoms for 24 to 48 hours after receiving it. In addition, and specific to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, seven in every million women experienced blood clotting side-effects according to the Mayo Clinic. That is a very small percentage and, while concerning, data was reviewed by the scientific community revealing that the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine far outweigh the potential seven in one million risk. Some helpful tips to mitigating the side-effects of the vaccine can be found HERE. Finally, according to the CDC, and independent autopsy reports, no one has died from the COVID-19 vaccination. Whereas, over 500,000 people have died from COVID-19 itself in the United States.
Vaccine will modify our DNA: mRNA does not enter the nucleus of our cells and thus cannot access our DNA on any level. Here is a helpful video by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health explaining how mRNA vaccines work.
At the end of the day, I am hoping that we can all help those around us become more comfortable with receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. These can be challenging conversations and we all need to be respectful of the concerns people have.
Anyone who is hesitant to about the vaccine should reach out to their doctor and ask about how the vaccine works and if it is the right healthcare choice for them. If we can make more people feel comfortable with the science behind this vaccine, we will be able to finally end this pandemic and move our community, and our country, forward from this crisis.