I am not a doctor, and I don’t pretend to play one on TV or anywhere else. The closest I came to being a doctor was thinking about it when I was in college, but if you saw my grades during my first year, you would know I didn’t think about it for long.
I tell you this because I am going to give what may be considered to be medical advice. In the end, you will need to make your own decision regarding the COVID vaccination and if you have questions, you should consult your doctor.
If you have not done so already and you are eligible, please get the COVID vaccine. As the summer moves on, vaccination rates have stagnated. We appear to have topped out at having only 58% of the population in New Hampshire receive both doses and, in the country, as a whole, we are only at 49.4%. While it seemed like we were going to get 70-80% of the population vaccinated, that now seems far-fetched.
I don’t exactly know what that will mean for all us when we get to fall and winter, I do know that it means we will continue to live with daily updates of cases, hospitalizations and death counts. As long as we need to know that information, it means that we will not be “living normally.”
I have had several conversations with people (not necessarily from church) who are choosing not to get the vaccine. Each conversation has come down to two reasons. One, they are waiting for more science to come out about the safety of the vaccine or two, they share an antidotal story they heard from someone who knows someone who had an adverse effect from the vaccine. In light of these conversations, let me offer some unsolicited advice on receiving the vaccine and why I believe we all should get it, if eligible.
First, while no vaccine has been advertised to be 100% effective, nearly all new COVID cases are appearing among the non-vaccinated. Here is an article from the AP that speaks to the efficacy of the vaccine and the protection it provides. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-941fcf43d9731c76c16e7354f5d5e187
Second, when I thought about whether or not to get the vaccine, I weighed the chances of having an adverse reaction to the vaccine against having an adverse reaction to COVID. If one were to look solely at the possibility of death from either COVID or the vaccine, one is much more likely to die from COVID. In the United States, there has been 34.4 million cases of COVID resulting in 610,000 deaths. Conversely, 310 million doses have been administered to over 189 million people with only 6,207 deaths being reported (.0018%). https://covid-101.org/science/how-many-people-have-died-from-the-vaccine-in-the-u-s/
However, the following comes directly from the CDC website, “FDA requires healthcare providers to report any death after COVID-19 vaccination to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Reporting System), even if it’s unclear whether the vaccine was the cause. Reports of adverse events to VAERS following vaccination, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem.”) This means the number of deaths due to a COVID vaccine is MUCH less. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
But, if you are still on the fence of receiving the vaccine, I ask that you think of the children. Children 12 and under are still not eligible for the vaccine. While risk for serious adverse effects from COVID are low among them, there are still risks. When you get vaccinated, you are actively working to protect them also, not just yourself. Vaccinated people are less likely to spread COVID to others than non-vaccinated people. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/why-measure-effectiveness/breakthrough-cases.html#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20fully%20vaccinated,did%20before%20the%20pandemic.
After reading all of the preceding and you would like to get a vaccine and are not sure where to go, the following website will help. All you have to do is enter in your zip code and it will tell you where you can get your vaccine. https://www.vaccines.gov
I know that is a lot of information. I think part of the issue going on is that there is so much information out there and so many people are not sure what to believe. How do we sift through it all? Hopefully, what I shared has pared everything down into more manageable pieces and will come from trusted sources.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read what I write in the Tidings. I take seriously the responsibility I have and the platform given to me and my voice. I appreciate the trust you give me.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Tim