Why I took Covid-19 vaccine

Diseases have plagued the world since time immemorial. The history of pandemics is as old as human civilisation itself.

Gone are the ages people explained pandemics using superstitions.

Thanks to advancements in science, we now have a good understanding of pandemics the size of Aids and Covid-19.

Pandemics create myths, fear and shock. The Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed a hoard of bizarre conspiracy theories and superstitions. But these are not new.

People reacted similarly during the Smallpox Pandemic of the 1960s, the Spanish Flu which wiped out 50 million people in 1918 and Black Death which killed a third of people worldwide.

Earlier in the current pandemic, some people, including learned minds, denied the existence of Covid-19.

They attributed it to things like 5G network and other things. Most have gone on to accept that Covid-19 is real. But now some  have re-emerged with new conspiracy theories against Covid-19 vaccines.

I have keenly followed the development of Covid-19 vaccines, mostly those made by American companies, Pfizer and Moderna.

For a year, I have been satisfied with the efficacy data produced by these two companies. As a result, I clamoured for a vaccination spot and made it among the first one percent of people to receive the vaccine in the US.

The newly approved vaccines are safe and effective despite having mild side effects like any other drug.

However, life-threatening side effects are rare with these vaccines. One is more likely to react to antibiotics and other drugs than vaccines.

Just about one person in every 250 000 recipients is having a serious allergic reactions. This means only 0.004 percent of Americans have had serious reactions to the vaccines.

Compare this with the statistics for peanuts, which cause serious allergic reactions in one percent of Americans as well as penicillin which causes serious issues in two percent of Americans.

Even more people get complications from surgery or giving birth.

The most rational approach with these vaccines is not to stop them but to identify those at risk of harsh reactions and not vaccinate them, while treating those who still react.

Scientists are also trying to gradually improve the vaccines by reducing or replacing any ingredients that can cause the most allergies.

This is a much better solution than just folding our hands during a pandemic that has killed 400 000 in the US and over two million worldwide.

In the US, these vaccines are only being given in controlled environments, where the rare immediate adverse effects can be monitored and treated.

Some people are choosing to over-emphasise on the uncommon risks of these vaccines. But the vast majority of recipients—over 63 million people—have received the vaccines and not had reactions.

This reflects people’s anxieties about what happens with every new product. It’s a reflection of people’s psychology. The same transpired when contraceptives had just been launched in Africa.

Some detractors are portraying the vaccination efforts as a ploy by developed Western countries to decimate Africans, yet these countries made the vaccines for themselves.

It is African leaders who are trying to buy some doses for their people, not whites forcing Africans to take them.

Africans will be at the highest spectrum of safety as Europeans and Americans have been the “guinea pigs”.

The grim reality is that Covid-19 is not going away until either a large number of people catch it and die or recover (natural immunity) or a large number of people gets vaccinated (artificial immunity).

To think that Covid-19 will just “go away” is wishful thinking.

Few years ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo, people with Ebola vaccine misconceptions destroyed hospitals.

Fortunately, civic education efforts led to wider vaccine acceptance and a large vaccination programme. That was how Ebola was successfully eradicated.