I got the new Covid booster last week, and the RSV vaccine.
By now some people I know have stopped reading. And I understand how they came about their beliefs that the NIH has been politicized and that these new, quickly produced vaccines are a hoax. First, they’ve been fed a lot of disinformation. Second, they don’t understand the science.
I feel about science the way Rosalind Franklin, the scientist who first photographed DNA’s helical structure, felt about it. She said, “ … science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated. Science, for me, gives a partial explanation of life. In so far as it goes, it is based on fact, experience, and experiment.”
A friend of ours, when asked if he was getting the vaccine, said that he was through with getting boosters, that they weren’t doing any good, and that the NIH has been politicized.
No, friend, it is what passes for news from some quarters that has been politicized.
Humans have been able to map the genomes, not only of humans, but of viruses. This has allowed vaccines to be produced in a much shorter time span than was necessary when the polio vaccine was first produced.
If you grew up during the polio scare, you know about the tragedy of the first vaccine. Live virus in some polio vaccines from Cutter Laboratories sickened over 200,000 people. Of those, 164 were paralyzed, and l0 died.
Full disclosure: Whether it was because of fear or availability, I did not get the polio vaccine. Instead, I got polio. The results of the virus have been with me since I was four years old.
It’s easy to see how people of a certain age might be afraid of a quickly produced vaccine. You can see, too, why I believe in them. I know the danger of not being vaccinated, and I understand that Covid vaccines aren’t made from the virus, live or dead, thanks to scientists’ ability to map the genome of the virus.
How can we educate people about the importance of vaccines? This education can save lives. The new vaccines aren’t a hoax; they’re a miracle of science.
 | A guest post by
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We got the latest vaccine last week, too. And we were grateful to be able to get it. Easily! (Or maybe we’ve learned the ropes.)
I remember vividly how we scrambled and gladly drove miles to an available vaccination site. Some of our friends did too.
As I rolled up my sleeve that first time, I was close to tears at the thought that in a few weeks we’d actually be able to hug our grandchildren - something we hadn’t done since March of 2020!
I’m so sorry you contracted polio. By the luck of being in second grade when the polio vaccine became available, I received the 3 shot series. We were called “polio pioneers.”
I believe in science. I believe in medicine. And I believe in a God who created humankind to be God’s partner in repairing the world.