Dr. Konstantinos Tsiotis, member and President of the epidemiological team records the important developments of recent days and gives the reasons for someone to get the vaccine against SARSCoV2. The vaccine is expected to determine the course of the pandemic.
1. Protecting my health:
Nobody wants to get sick. Our daily habits have changed, we are constantly worried not to forget the protection measures & increase the risk of getting infected. With extensive vaccination, our daily activities will be safer.
2. Gradual return to normalcy:
The new reality we live in is marked by protection measures to reduce our risk of infection. An effective vaccination is the only measure that will allow a safe return to normalcy.
3.Protection of the vulnerable:
As members of a society, our most important motivation is to protect those at risk of serious illness: the elderly, heart patients, people with respiratory, neurological, nephrological problems, diabetes mellitus, cancer, immunosuppression.
4. Protection of those who will not be able to be vaccinated:
Protection of those who will not be able to be vaccinated: there are population groups who will not be able to receive the vaccine in the initial phase of vaccination: 5-10% of adults will not be able to be vaccinated due to contraindications
5. Some vaccines may not be as effective in the elderly, most clinical trials have not involved children and pregnant women. These people have no choice. We have.
6. Health professionals:
The pandemic has cost the lives of thousands of doctors & nurses who put themselves at risk to care for their patients. Vaccination will protect them so that proper care is provided to those who need it most.
7. People who got sick:
Tens of millions of people have fallen ill and millions have already lost their lives since covid-19. Vaccination can save millions of lives.
8.People with pulmonary covid:
The disease COVID-19 it is not an innocent disease that only affects the elderly. There are people who suffer for months after being diagnosed with COVID-19, can not return to everyday life & need chronic care & medical care.
9. Volunteers:
The clinical trials of the vaccines are impressive, with the participation of tens of thousands of volunteers. These individuals have offered to risk their health to contribute to scientific research and to make vaccines available faster around the world.
10. Vaccines are generally safe:
The side effects of the vaccines appear mainly in the first days-weeks and in the vast majority they are expected, mild & temporary. Publications from phase 2 clinical trials indicate that it is generally safe
11. The side effects are mild (eg local pain, low-grade fever, malaise, headache). Allegations that vaccines lead to long-term health problems have not been statistically proven.
12. The theory of collective immunity (herd immunity) has failed in practice:
No country has been able to reduce the incidence of the disease by infecting the population. So transmission will not be reduced by infecting a large% of the population. This will only be achieved with the vaccine.
13.History of humanity:
Our history is intertwined with infectious diseases, which have affected states, economies, wars. With vaccines it has decreased the frequency of diseases that were responsible for thousands of deaths & disability, eg polio, measles, smallpox, yellow fever.
14. Elimination of diseases:
Universal vaccination can eradicate a disease, such as the eradication of smallpox in 1980, one of the greatest successes in public health. Pandemic control COVID-19 with vaccination will be even more successful.
15. Seasonal flu:
The seasonal flu vaccine reminds us every year of the value of vaccination, with an effectiveness of 40-70% and relatively low vaccination rates of the population.
16.If these rates were higher, the flu would not cost 600-700,000 lives each year. Within 9 months we have more than double the recorded deaths from COVID-19. With the vaccine SARSCOV2 we aim to achieve higher vaccination rates.