A few nights ago, a family member texted their co-workers about the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the message, colleagues believe that it is not worth getting the vaccine, because epidemiologists say that even vaccinated can transmit the virus.
In other words, the thought has passed, if a vaccine does not completely guarantee you and everyone around you, what’s the point?
These family members and their friends were all young essential workers who were given preference for vaccination. But the answer to their skepticism was simple: get the vaccine as quickly as possible.
Here’s why.
Our best tool to control the new coronavirus is our own immune system. The basic problem is that our immune systems need to see the virus that causes COVID-19 to learn how to protect us. Vaccinations solve this problem by showing our immune systems what the virus looks like before we become infected so that it can learn how to fight the virus. Booster shots – both of the two vaccines authorized in the US require one – work like exercise, helping the immune system to further improve its ability to fight the virus.
Through an unprecedented global effort and the use of cutting-edge technologies, we have developed a COVID-19 vaccine faster than previous generations have ever imagined. The need to rapidly reduce the mortality rate with this new tool meant that we had to act before we knew exactly how much it would help the transmission, as opposed to disease.
The clinical trials have made it clear that the current harvest of vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and others worldwide is safe and effective against severe COVID-19 disease. But some questions remained unanswered immediately after implementation. How long would protection last? Will the vaccine transmission be prevented, as opposed to preventing people from becoming very ill or dying? Will the virus develop like flu and cause recurrent epidemics?
Because of these unknowns, the messages surrounding the vaccine are cautious. Scientists and public health officials have been disgusted to make statements about the effectiveness of a new pharmaceutical product without evidence to support it. This is especially true because wrongdoing, no matter how well-intentioned, can undermine confidence during a pandemic that has to politicize the response to public health guidelines completely.
Example: attitudes about masking.
But there is a downside to these cautious messages. Lack of certainty or strong empirical evidence is often interpreted to mean that we have evidence that something is not where. This phenomenon is only exacerbated by voices from the anti-wax community and other skeptics about public health. ‘People may just hear that we can not say that the vaccine does not prevent the transmission, and not that it is simply because we are waiting for the evidence to come in, or that most experts would be shocked if it did not’ has no effect on the prevention of infection.
Similarly, cautious public health advice intended to avoid unintended tragedies, such as the admonition to distance oneself and take precautions, even if vaccinated, often ends up being skeptical about vaccination.
As a result, people too often do not realize why they should be vaccinated.
These are not skeptics or vaccines that are usually opposed to vaccination. Instead, they are concerned, considerate people who are concerned that they may refuse a protective vaccine for someone at high risk, or that they are taking another new medical product for their own benefit and others.
It is crucial that we get the message to such individuals on how we believe the vaccine is likely to work based on its underlying biology, and what rapidly emerging evidence is telling us about the efficacy and safety of the vaccine.
The message is this: based on the performance of similar vaccines, the fact that asymptomatic people are less likely to transmit the coronavirus, and a rapidly growing body of direct evidence from trials and campaigns, we are confident that vaccination against COVID-19 reduces the chances of transmitting the virus. It may be that transmission protection is significantly less than protection against serious diseases, but at this stage it would be shocking if there was no impact.
Evidence indicates the natural immunity that lasts for many months, although reinfection is possible (especially after mild illnesses). The vaccine is likely to provide similar protection, although less clear. Most importantly, even if the protection is not permanent, whether due to declining immunity or new variants of the virus that develop to escape the growing human immunity, subsequent infections are likely to be less serious for those whose immune systems were at risk have to learn a little virus.
Although vaccination of vaccines on COVID-19 transmission is imperfect and temporary, vaccination will still lead to a large decrease in the number of cases if there is a wide uptake of vaccines in the general population. This is the surest way to return to a place where we can all participate in the parties, dinners and simple office cooler conversations we so crave.
So take it if you have the chance to be vaccinated. It will make all of our lives better.