by Mary Horn, RN

The amount of information available about the Corona virus seems overwhelming. Yet many of the opinions expressed or reported as facts are by people with no education or experience with medical information on infectious disease and immunizations.

While I don't count myself as an expert, I have spent 50 years of my nursing career giving childhood immunizations. I have seen the introduction of nearly all the current immunizations, except the ones for smallpox and for diptheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (DPT). Smallpox and polio have essentially been wiped out in most of the world because of these vaccines. Some of the other diseases that I saw frequently in the earlier years of my career are very rare today because of the vaccines.

Nevertheless we have seen unprecedented refusal by Americans to get the vaccine. My own parents would not have understood their attitude. They bravely enlisted me in the trials for the Salk polio vaccine because they understood that only an effective vaccine and mass public acceptance could save the world from the effects of this often fatal and crippling disease. Some of us in the trial got the vaccine and some got water, and then the world waited to see if the vaccine group got fewer cases of polio. Of course I got the water. This is essentially the way that all vaccines are tested. My parents understood that we are a part of a worldwide community and that my participation in the vaccine trial helped all of mankind. They understood that participation was “the right thing to do.”

One of the most common reasons for not getting the vaccine is that people say they are waiting to see what the side effects will be. All vaccines are tested first on animals and then on thousands of volunteers before release for public use. By that time, most common side effects are known. Occasionally a rare side effect will surface after the vaccine is used for millions of people and if necessary the vaccine is withdrawn until the event can be studied. This happened with the rotovirus vaccine which caused a surgical condition in a few children. Since the corona vaccine has been given to millions, there is only a small risk that new side effects will surface. On the other hand, we know that corona virus disease causes death and long term damage to lungs, brain, and heart. Seems to me that these people are betting on the wrong horse.

Another common reason to not vaccinate is that “I can still get the disease even if I get the vaccine.” Correct. No vaccine protects 100%. My favorite example was a set of triplets to whom I personally gave the rotovirus vaccine. Months later they came to my office. The baby boy had a bad case of vomiting and diarrhea ( a common symptom with a rotovirus infection) and his 2 sisters were fine. Is that a fault of the vaccine? Probably not. Immunity is influenced by numerous factors and this boy did not respond to the vaccine in the same say as his sisters.

Well here we are with another surge—what could have been a preventable one, now leading to the potential for years of coping with the virus, much like we cope with the illness and death caused by influenza. People will claim their American rights have been taken away if they are required to get the vaccine. Yet we all are required to behave in ways that promote the common good. Seat belts, driving on the right side of the road, and attending school as a child are examples.

Personally having heard so many lame excuses, I think that these adults are just plain scared to get a shot. A writer in a recent Pediatric News suggests that some people's personality style is to resist authority figures no matter what the issue. Others are more typically compliant. It seems to me we Christians have been coping with this human characteristic since the days of Genesis--when Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden apple.