Bill Statler (1969)
As Senator Pat Moynihan once noted, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. So here goes some facts about the Covid-19 vaccine:
1. Following extensive testing, over 75 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been administered in the United States without any serious reactions. (A sore arm at the injection site doesn't count as “serious.”)
2. According the most recent data I could find, based on 17.5 million doses administered through January 18, 2021 in the United States, the rate of severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) was 2.5 per million for the Pfizer vaccine and 4.7 for the Moderna one (combined rate for both of 4.5 cases per million). That’s a likelihood of 00045% chance of an adverse reaction – pretty good odds. 😊 (Note: if you have a friend that has had a severe reaction to the vaccine, you associate with a very rare group of folks. As they say down under: good on ya!)
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776557
3. In most of the cases, anaphylaxis occurred in people who had a prior history of allergies or allergic reactions. Most of the reactions occurred within 15 minutes after the vaccine was given (which is why they ask you to wait that long after being vaccinated before leaving.) No cases resulted in death. Again, pretty good odds considering that over 500,000 Americans have died from Covid-19.
Source: Allergy and Asthma Network https://allergyasthmanetwork.org/news/statement-on-covid-vaccine/
4. It’s widely reported that the most common reported side effect following vaccination is pain at the injection site. (Along with others on the PHS site, I’ll agree with that! But after a few rounds of golf, it went away.)
I’ve noticed several comments remarking that when it comes to taking Covid-19 precautions (masks, social distancing, vaccination), they refuse to live in fear. I agree with that: stop being afraid of the vaccine.
A final note: I generally agree with the notion that freedom is the right to make the wrong choice. However, I think an important caveat to that is when a bad decision adversely affects others (as pandemics do). Freedom is not the right to falsely yell fire in a crowded theater (many get this Justice Holmes quote wrong: it is okay to yell fire if there is one!) or drive through a red light.
That said, whatever your decision regarding the vaccine (which I agree is yours to make), I wish everyone a safe and healthy journey through these challenging times.
- Bill
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