Let me engage in what is sometimes called “both-sides-ism” (a disparaging term, of course) and consider, briefly, the pluses and minuses of vaccines. While I’m at it, I’ll include some points specific to the Covid-19 vaccines.
Let’s start with the pluses, shall we?
- Vaccines are the single greatest public health innovation in the history of medicine. They’ve saved millions of lives.
- Vaccines completely eliminated smallpox from the planet. They have nearly (but not quite, due to anti-vax resistance) eliminated polio.
- The new mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 are remarkably effective, have very few side effects, and are easy to modify as the virus itself mutates over time.
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But there are a few very small minuses, so let’s consider the downsides of vaccines:
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- The shot (or “jab”) hurts a little bit, and your arm might be sore for a day.
- In very rare cases with some vaccines, some people might have allergic reactions. One example is that some flu vaccines are manufactured in chicken eggs, and people with egg allergies might react to those.
- In a few rare cases, the live polio virus vaccine has caused some people to get polio. This vaccine was discontinued in the U.S. decades ago.
- In rare cases, some people might have an immune response to a vaccine that causes ongoing inflammation. This includes the Covid-19 vaccine. However, the risk is much smaller than the risks associated with an actual infection.
