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Getting The Vaccine
long untouched by the pandemic’s worst, is now suffering…. .But I feel, on balance, that this vaccine is worth shouting about. Your turn will come!
Dr. Peadar Ó Fionnain
However as the initial euphoria about vaccination passes, as the nursing home residents and our grannies and parents are vaccinated, we will see a greater amount of “vaccine hesitancy” coming to the fore. There is a strong anti-vaccination movement behind this, and of course there are legitimate fears about anything new. It strikes me that fear of vaccines is an expression of genuine disempowerment that many of us feel in the modern world: Companies have become too powerful, the truth is hard to find among so much conflicting information, who can we trust anymore? Social media has an amplifying effect on these legitimate fears.
Last Saturday saw me gathered in an excitable queue of over 100 Kerry GPs in the lobby of University Hospital Kerry. Word had spread that the hospital had 100 vaccines to spare for us GPs, and there was an air of disbelief that this was actually happening. You could feel the tension between the palpable desire to share the excitement with long-estranged colleagues and the need to observe 2 metre decorum. Hospital staff had volunteered their weekend to give out the vaccine and when finally my name was called and I scuttled in to find patrician Tom McCormack, lifelong hospital servant, administering the magic 0.3mls. I felt an indescribably rush of gratitude to Tom, the hospital, and as the day passed a real sense of relief. Finally I could see an end to the tensions of our work for the past year. It’s not nice keeping patients at arm’s length, at the end of a telephone line, or briskly dealt with at the far end of the room. It’s been trying, leaning back when patients lean forwards, minimising touch, keeping our distance when your human instinct is to do the opposite. As my antibodies soar I’m feeling the relief of knowing I’m unlikely to be guilty of passing on the virus. And as your thoughts wander, other modest visions of freedom present themselves – going out for a meal, meeting friends again, holidays…. It feels unfair to boast of this, when most others won’t have yet been offered a vaccine. I do know it is a privilege and a perk of the job, undeserved as there are so many people who are more deserving. Dingle,
As I write, about 40million doses of the vaccine have so far been given, about 140,000 of them in Ireland. Initial studies suggesting only mild sideeffects (sore arm, a temperature) as well as allergic reactions have been borne out, and it has been very reassuring that nothing unexpected has emerged. We know that the vast majority of vaccine side effects present in the first few days, so things look very positive in terms of long-term safety. There is no single action in life (crossing the road, eating an apple) that does not carry potential harm or consequences. In medicine we go to great lengths to try and quantify that harm as well as the benefit so as to make logical recommendations. We are right to feel uncertain of course, but I think the issue of covid vaccination is quite clearcut. There is obvious harm in not vaccinating , while the harm in vaccination is minimal. We make decisions with less than 100% information all the time. For reasons of health, protecting ourselves and protecting others, as well as for our society and general wellbeing, getting the vaccine as soon as it is offered clearly brings more good than harm. Solidarity has been one amazing trait brought about by the last 12 months, and getting the vaccine is fundamentally an act of solidarity. Tá súil agam go mbeidh an méid sin sceitimíní ort agus a bhí ar dochtúirí teaghlaigh Chiarraí nuair a glaotar ar d’ainm…. West Kerry Live 15
