Thread by @AmoneyResists

Vaccine hesitancy is something that impacts more people than just Trump supporters. If you ever were or remain more open to the idea of injecting bleach into your lungs than the vaccine into your arm, you’re not someone who can be reasoned with. This thread is for everyone else.

Most of us can’t comprehend how anyone could still be hesitant. COVID has killed nearly 600K Americans while the vaccine has killed ZERO. I hear you. But since nearly 1/3 of American adults are in this category, I’m going to try to get through to them anyway.

If we’re going to convince anyone in this group, lumping them all together as hopeless morons is not the answer. Many are not stupid but simply don’t understand the development process; how vaccines work; or are afraid of adverse reactions or long-term side effects.

The most prominent reason people give for being wary of vaccination tends to be some variation of “I’m just not sure it’s safe.” Their skepticism seems to stem primarily from how fast the vaccine was developed. And yes, it was remarkably fast. But there is a reason for that.

The vaccine’s fast development wasn’t because any part of the process was rushed, not done properly, or neglected. It was because scientists had a head start. They had been researching and even developing vaccines for other strains of coronaviruses for years.

They applied lessons from the 2003 SARS epidemic & the 2012 MERS outbreak. It was also a concerted effort as COVID was spreading all across the earth. So this meant we had billions of dollars unlocked for research, a global effort, AND a huge head start from a clinical standpoint

People who don’t have an educational background in science or research typically have no idea what it takes to get something like a vaccine approved by the FDA for use to treat a virus in humans. It is a painstakingly rigorous one that leaves almost no room for error.

Every vaccine must go through exhaustive testing and inspection to ensure it is safe.
Vaccines for COVID-19 followed a 3-phase process. The 1st involved testing the vaccine in small groups of healthy adults (e.g. 20-100 people) and monitoring immune responses and side effects.

If no safety concerns are raised by Phase 1 trials, Phase 2 includes various dosages being administered to hundreds of adults from different backgrounds, including those with health issues. This provides additional safety information on side-effects and risks as well as efficacy.

If a vaccine passes Phase 2, Phase 3 involves broadening the trials to include thousands of adults from various ages & backgrounds and testing how they respond to being given the vaccine in comparison to a control group, which is given a placebo (shot not containing the vaccine).

Only vaccines that pass all 3 of these phases are authorized by the FDA for public use. And even then, they continue to monitor their safety extremely closely by continuing to collect data and regularly inspect production and distribution sites.

The process that vaccines (or any new drugs) are developed is an extremely rigorous one that places patient safety and effectiveness above all else. Meanwhile, news stories will highlight a rare adverse reaction and make thousands of people question it’s safety.

Also, as someone who works at an administration site, I can tell you that we take every precaution to ensure the vaccine is administered safely. We ask extensive questions re: medical history, health conditions/allergies and monitor patients for at least 15 minutes afterwards.

The bottom line is that your risk of getting sick from the vaccine itself is almost nonexistent compared to the risk of getting sick from COVID; and your risk of DYING from the vaccine is literally nonexistent whereas even if you’re young and healthy, COVID can still kill you.

Some people still say “So what? COVID isn’t going to kill me so I don’t need the vaccine.” I would like to remind those people that even if COVID doesn’t kill you, you can still unknowingly spread it to someone who it does, as well as suffer severe long term health consequences.

Since people who are reluctant to get vaccinated are often quick to point out how we don’t (“we simply can’t”) know whether there will be any long-term adverse effects from the vaccine, let’s talk about what we do know about the adverse effects COVID has to your body.

When an infected person expels virus-laden droplets and another person inhales them, the novel coronavirus (SARS Cov-2) enters the nose and throat and finds a welcome home in the lining of the nose, where a receptor called ACE2 is.

ACE2 normally helps regulate blood pressure, but COVID uses it to enter a cell. Once inside, it highjacks that cell’s machinery, making thousands of copies of itself and invading new cells. Symptoms may still be absent at this point even though the person can infect others.

Or they may start to notice symptoms; a fever, sore throat, dry cough, loss of sense of smell and taste, and body aches. If your immune system is unable to beat back the virus during this initial phase, it progresses down the windpipe to attack the lungs, where it becomes deadly.

The thinner, distant branches of the lung’s respiratory tree end in tiny air sacs called alveoli, each lined by a single layer of cells. Normally, oxygen crosses the alveoli into the capillaries; and is then carried to the rest of the body. COVID disrupts this process.

White blood cells release inflammatory molecules called chemokines, which in turn summon more immune cells that target and kill virus-infected cells, leaving a stew of fluid and dead cells behind. At this point, the person is coughing, feverous, & has rapid, shallow respiration.

Some COVID patients still recover from this point. Others continue to deteriorate and develop Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), in which their oxygen levels plummet and they increasingly struggle to breathe. These patients generally end up on ventilators; and many die.

We are still just beginning to understand the long-term effects of those who survive COVID, but what we do know so far is that it has lasting deleterious effects on not just the lungs but the brain, eyes, nose, heart, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and intestines.

So even those who survive COVID will likely have a shortened life expectancy compared to those who never contract it and you can unknowingly transmit it to an exponential number of people even if you don’t become symptomatic.

Meanwhile, the vaccine has minimal to no risks to your health, minimal to no long-term negative side effects based on research on similar vaccines; and reduces your chances of contracting COVID by 95%. This is our best chance to put this pandemic behind us. Please,
#GetVaccinated