I was talking to someone about COVID-19 vaccination this week. They had side effects of fatigue since they were vaccinated and were advising people not to be vaccinated.
Needless today, I got quite emotional about this. Vaccines save lives. Vaccination against COVID has helped to reduce rates of COVID-19 after the two weeks it takes to start to offer protection. Telling someone not to be vaccinated against, what is in effect, the plague is not only increasing the risk of death and disability to the person not vaccinated, but also carries a risk that they will go on to infect others.
Yes, this vaccine has side effects. My arm still aches on occasion from where I had my vaccine late last year. My wife felt unwell for a day and took to bed but has no issues at all now. But COVID-19, if it does not kill, has longer lasting side effects which are more frequent, hence the new disease of Long COVID.
We do not know how effective the current vaccines are to be against other variants, but we do know that the current vaccines offer protection to original strain of COVID-19 as well as the UK variant that is present in our great nation. And yes, the vaccine is not 100% effective, I have already spoken to people who have caught COVID despite being vaccinated, catching it after the two weeks it takes to become effective. But the outcome data for at least one of the vaccines is a reduction in those going to hospital rather than preventing all infections.
We are not protected, until we are all protected, both by remembering hands, face, space, as well the need for as many people as possible to be vaccinated.
