{Disclaimer: I did very little actual research for this post. If you want the real facts, and not just my opinions, do your own web search or ask your own health care provider 😊}
From the people I’ve talked to, for any who have been infected with the virus already, they are prone to more side effects from the vaccine – fever, body aches, fatigue. I guess that’s because the body is already geared up to defend itself from the virus and now the vaccine is messing with those antibodies. When the health care providers I work with explain it to me it makes so much sense, but then I can never remember enough of their exact words to have it make sense when I write it.
Also, after people get the second vaccine, they tend to get a lot more of those side effects. Again, I suppose, because the body is now immediately ready to fight it off. Which is a good thing coz that means it’s ready if the real virus sneaks into you.
The other thing I can never explain coherently is how this vaccine is different than any other we’ve had before. Our flu vaccine, as well as the ones for polio, measles, etc, all introduce a weakened or inactivated form of the virus into our bodies. This causes our bodies to make its own antibodies against those bugs, so that when those bugs invade the body, our defense system is already ready to eradicate it.
The COVID vaccine, on the other hand, doesn’t infect us with anything at all like the actual virus. Instead, through some process way more complicated than I will ever understand, the shot contains a teeny tiny textbook which teaches our cells how to make a protein which triggers an immune response inside our bodies which produces the antibodies which now will stand guard ready to kick the butts of any COVID-19 bugs that try to get in.
Or something like that. Science may be fascinating, but understanding it? There’s already something standing guard outside my brain saying, “Uh-uh, you’ll never get this.”
Ok, but the bottom line – is it effective?
It’s reported to be around 50% effective two weeks after the first dose, and up to 95% effective after the second dose. They do say that you still have a chance (no idea how great that is) of contracting the virus, but you will have few, if any symptoms.
The problem is (and my pea brain thinks this is a huge problem) that if you do contract COVID, you can still pass it on to someone else. Which makes me want to ask, then what is the point of even getting the shot? To which, of course, the answer is: if everyone gets the vaccine and everyone gets a very mild illness or no illness at all when exposed to the COVID virus, then it is less of an issue than even the common cold. Right? Don’t you think?
The second bottom line – is it safe? If it can cause all these side effects, and we don’t know if there could be long-term side effects, is it worth getting?
Of course it is. At this point, of all the people who have gotten the vaccine, the number who have had serious life-threatening side effects or have even died from it is still way, way, way lower than the number of people who have had those same bad outcomes from contracting the virus.
And any possible long-term problems from the vaccine? The medical community already suspects there could be long-term health issues from having the virus, but there have been no such findings from the vaccine. Yes, both the virus and vaccine are still too new to really know enough.
Whatever the case, we gotta just get through this. As I already mentioned, someday this particular coronavirus could come and go through our bodies without us even noticing. We’re not there yet, so in the meantime, wear your masks, greet others with air-hugs, stay home as much as you can, and get the vaccine if you get a chance.
Stay safe, stay healthy, stay sane – Chris
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| Some day, we'll all get together again. |
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