We say: Vaccine hesitation persists | COVID-19

Most of the deaths and serious illnesses that cause hospitalization due to COVID-19 are manageable.

Still, hesitation remains, despite FDA-approved vaccines, nearly universal reassurance from health professionals, and support from politicians on both sides of the aisle.

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration took the next step in the bureaucratic process when it gave full approval for the Pfizer vaccine. This means sufficient data to show that previously urgently licensed vaccines are safe and effective for most people and that the FDA has reviewed and approved the vaccine manufacturing process and facilities.

Both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are expected to be fully approved, but the process is delayed by about a month.

Still, many people are worried about getting shots. Shots administered over 300 million times. Shots that have been proven to save lives and reduce the risk of long-term damage caused by the virus.

According to state records, rural counties such as Hunt County are well below the 70% herd immunity threshold, and vaccination efforts are significantly delayed. As of Friday, nearly 37% of county residents over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated.

On the other hand, hospitalizations due to delta variants are increasing rapidly. As of Tuesday, there were 66 COVID patients at the Greenville facility, according to records from the Hunt Community Medical Center. Only two of them were fully vaccinated. No vaccinated COVID patients were on the ICU or ventilator.

So let’s discuss some of the often cited claims that people are reluctant to get vaccinated against.

—Why do we need to trust vaccines that have been developed and approved so quickly?

The rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine was supported by former President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed. This is a federal effort to support multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates to speed up development.

The program analyzed vaccine candidates and found that their development followed traditional practices with some indications. For example, several clinical trial stages overlapped with each other to accelerate development and overlapped with animal studies.

In short, Operation Warp Speed ​​has allowed vaccine providers to survive the bureaucratic bureaucratic formalism that often delays development.

— Vaccinated people are still infected with COVID-19 and people have died from the vaccine.

Health leaders consistently say that the COVID-19 vaccine protects people from serious illnesses, including those caused by deltas and other variants that are prevalent in the United States.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.

The study is based on data from 43,127 cases in Los Angeles County from May 1st to July 25th, and was published earlier this week in a weekly report on CDC morbidity and mortality.

The study also found that unvaccinated people were almost five times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.

Reports of death after COVID-19 vaccination are extremely rare.

According to the CDC, since December 14, 2020, more than 363 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States. Since then, the death toll of people vaccinated with COVID-19 has been reported to be 6,968 (according to the CDC, deaths are not necessarily due to adverse reactions to the vaccine). That’s 0.0019%.

The results are clear and vaccines are a safe and effective way to slow the spread.

We, like everyone, crave true normality. However, if the current hesitation remains, its normality may never come.

At a rally in Alabama last week, President Trump told his supporters: I fully believe in your freedom. You have to do what you have to do, but I recommend: take the vaccine. I did it – that’s a good thing. “

agree.

— Greenville Herald Banner