Covid vaccine availability has skyrocketed in the last few weeks. Many US states have opened it up for the general adult population. This has also triggered another debate among the general population. Should I get the vaccine?
Vaccination is a controversial subject. A long history of adverse outcomes from vaccines has triggered the Anti-vaccer movement. Annual flu shots have been another controversial subject. The composition of Flu shots is based on historic patterns and its success rate can vary significantly.
Further, Health and Human services have failed miserably in highlighting the benefits. This has reduced the general public’s trust in vaccines.
So let us take a quick look at the side effects of not taking the covid vaccine.
Death
This does not need further proof. The US alone lost 554,064 lives at the time of writing this article.
The covid vaccine may not prevent a future infection but data from all clinical trials show that there has been Zero death in the vaccinated population from covid. To be clear we are discussing the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing death vs the safety of the vaccine.
167 Million vaccination has been completed(April first week) and 2794 deaths have been reported in the vaccinated population. Most of these are in long-term care facilities and have been attributed to natural causes other than covid or adverse reaction to the vaccine.
Life long disability
Covid causes serious long-term disability. The worst of these include
Cardiovascular: inflammation of the heart muscle
Respiratory: Lung function abnormalities
Renal: acute kidney injury
Dermatologic: rash, hair loss
Neurological: smell and taste problems, sleep issues, difficulty with concentration, memory problems
Psychiatric: depression, anxiety, changes in mood
The covid vaccine reduces the risk of escalation even if you are infected by a future variant.
“What this means is that the T cell response [induced by the vaccine] may not prevent infection, but it can impact disease severity.â€
Vaccine effectively stops the escalation of the disease and prevents aforementioned side-effects
Financial Bankruptcy
The number one reason for personal bankruptcy in the united states is healthcare. American medical system will save your life and then stick you with a bill that you can’t afford to pay.
A quick look at the numbers will show you that an average day without insurance at the hospital costs around 4000 $ and a total stay averages around $15000.
During the covid crisis, 114 million people lost jobs. The seldom-discussed fact is that this triggered insurance coverage loss too. Barring extremely expensive Cobra coverage, these uninsured people had to depend on the affordable care marketplace. The cheapest premium for a family is $1000
The maximum out-of-pocket limit is federally mandated. The most that individuals will have to pay out-of-pocket in 2020 is $8,200 and $16,400 for families. The average deductible a family is expected to pay is $7767. Clearly, with these numbers, a covid driven hospital stay is an invitation for bankruptcy for an average American family.
For the author, the question comes down to avoid the vaccines and or risk $16000 this year alone or take the vaccine knowing that it will reduce catastrophic illness risk significantly.
Introspection
It’s been a year since this article and we now have data on the actual cost of hospitalization.
Final Thoughts
The real side effects are the ones that we can not measure. Our medical community got damaged to a considerable degree. We still have no effective way to measure the learning gap in the student community. Covid also brought interesting patterns in our society.
This was mentioned in a popular Twitter thread among medical professionals. It summarises an interesting dichotomy in our society.
“So many people said they didn’t want to get a vaccine because it was ‘experimental,’ only to ask for a bunch of ‘experimental’ treatments once they get ill. Like you want remdesivir? Here’s the waiver saying you agree to an experimental medication.â€
Addendum
Advocating for Vaccination is not equivalent to advocating for Forced Vaccination. Medication must always be decided based on the totality of your situation.
Notes & References
- https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/effectiveness-studies.htm
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096324/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23444591/
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects.html
- https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/6-myths-about-covid-19-vaccines-debunked
- https://www.debt.org/medical/hospital-surgery-costs/
- https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s0413-JJ-vaccine.html
- https://www.fairhealth.org/states-by-the-numbers/covid19-heatmap
Parvathy Sukumaran 
