Covid-19 and vaccines: what we know and what we don't know

 

When it comes to vaccination, it is self-evident that not everybody reacts in the same way. On the one hand, vaccines are different. Using as an example one AstraZeneca vaccine and one Pfizer vaccine (I say 'one' because laboratories are already working on newer versions of existing vaccines due to the fact that the virus keeps mutating), the strategies to build immunity are different.

On the other hand, each individual to be vaccinated has specific characteristics that make him or her more or less vulnerable to reactions and secondary effects. 

Therefore, when faced with infections, we react differentely. When vaccinated, we react differently. Because of all the things that we don't know, we all need as much reassurance as possible to make the right decisions. 

One particular scenario has to do with the clinical history of an individual. If a given substance can trigger anaphylatic reactions - for example - then giving such substance to an individual that has a history of allergies and anaphylatic reactions cannot be without understanding the potential of serious or even lethal effects.

We hear descriptions of different variants of the same virus. We hear about the level of transmision, and virulence. He hear about the number of those seriously ill and we hear about the number of deaths. This is all about statistics. Statistics are about numbers and percentages, but they do little to reassure us about any particular case. 

Every day, we tune in to hear about decisions being made that affect us all. Nobody can avoid being affected either by the immediate realities of dealing with Covid-19 or the consequences of the measures put in place to tackle the pandemic. All the complexities of the situations created by Covid-19 and the measures implemented to tackle the pandemic come on top of all the problems we had to deal with before the pandemic started. The is uncertainty when it comes to physical health, mental health and financial health. 

There was life before the pandemic. There is life during the pandemic. There is going to be life after the pandemic. But there are several questions that are extremely relevant. What kind of life is it going to be? how will we behave after the pandemic? How will what is happening now affect our behaviour and our expectations? 

For many of us, including myself, the arrival of Spring followed by Summer doesn't feel the same as before. I used to look forward to the longer hours of dailight that came together with a load of optimism. Nowadays, if feels more like Doomsday. I look at my family and think about their prospects and I feel intense emotional pain.

We have vaccines and there are more vaccines in the horizon to tackle Covid-19 and its variants, but the one vaccine that we don't have is the vaccine against the pain, the suffering and the feelings of loss. I reckon that I am not alone. The pain, the suffering and the feelings of loss are throwing a growing number of people over the edge. A 280% increase of the number of mental health cases was reported. When before we used to talk about rising number of cases of social isolation, now we have to add the number of those who are unable to cope and are losing the will to stay alive.

Something fundamental will have to change. The Rat Race is not the solution. The Rat Race is very much part of the problem. The Rat Race has led to isolation and social dysfunction. We need to learn to live a different life that is not driven by the Rat Race.