It’s One Thing To Doubt The Safety Of A Vaccine From Indooroopilly, But Tell That To Someone From India
The old political refrain of “It’s the economy, stupid” has an echo in the vaccine debate with “It’s the environment which counts.”
We're not speaking about polar bears. The environment, in this case, is where you live and the degree of threat perceived or otherwise from the pandemic. It’s this factor that may have a significant effect on vaccine hesitancy.
I realised that this week after reading your varied and vivid comments on the vaccination debate last week, which raised many issues.
When I sought the opinion of a drug company executive on the doubts about vaccine safety, he simply said:
“Don’t worry, it’s all about the environment.”
His point: if you live in Melbourne, where the rate is currently low, it’s no surprise some people say they won’t be vaccinated.
But if the same people were, let us say, in Mumbai, India, he believes many would be breaking down doors to get the vaccine.
You may agree or not. In Australia, we remain lucky enough to have the threat seemingly under control, notwithstanding regular ‘scares’.
But before you read a selection of your comments to last week’s blog, consider this: would you change your views if you lived somewhere where the pandemic was rampant?
Anonymous from NSW commented:
"No thanks. Will not be going near any vaccine."
Margaret from NSW said:
"You may have a minor reaction, no worry I am told this just shows your body has a very active immune system. Northing to be worried about. Think about the diseases and deaths that have been stopped by vaccination."
Anonymous from NSW commented:
"You can have mine, I’ll never have it no matter how much dribble is put out about it. Good luck with your shots, you’re going to need it."
Michael from NSW commented:
"I'm a 62-year-old male with an underlying medical condition, & received my first AstraZeneca shot on April 1. As a former Pharmacovigilance (drug efficacy, safety & benefit-risk management) Researcher, I had no hesitation, given the high benefit of getting the jab compared to the low risk of getting a blood clot (now calculated at one in 200,000). There is NO current pharmaceutical product (or Asian herbal product) that is guaranteed 100% free of adverse reactions in 100% of patients, due to varying medical & physiological differences in individuals, but we are all happy to take our every-day meds. Of course everyone should weigh up their own COVID vaccine benefit-risk ratio with their GP, as you would with any other medication, but unfortunately, the media is blowing out of proportion the risk of blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine. For 48 hours after my shot, I experienced mild headache, muscle pain at the injection site & general lethargy. This is nothing compared to the symptoms of catching COVID."
Read the rest of the comments on our website and add some of your own.
For the record I am resolute on this issue. Vaccines are a public and personal good. I’ll be getting mine ASAP and would encourage others to do so.
Any information is general advice, it does not take into account your individual circumstances, objectives, financial situation or needs.
