Despite the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans from complications arising from Covid-19, surveys have shown about 30 percent of adults in the U.S. don’t want to get vaccinated.
Dr. Joe Thompson, president/CEO, Arkansas Center for Health Improvement expects that reluctance to get vaccinated will dissipate once more people see friends and family have gotten vaccinated with no ill effects, and that people who are fully vaccinated can start resuming social activities.
“It is a natural reaction to something new to have questions,” Thompson said. “We’ve been through a year of a pandemic where there was a new virus that threatened our lives. Our anxiety levels are high. I had about 60 seconds of anxiety when I got my shot. Then I started rationally thinking of what I do know, including the bad things that can happen if you get Covid.”
He says as more people get vaccinated, it will be reassuring to those who are hesitant that both the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are very high with all of the vaccines.
“Out of millions vaccinated, fewer than 100 even had an allergic reaction,” Thompson said. “If you understand how high the risk is of complications from Covid, and how low the risk is from any adverse effect from the vaccines, it becomes more of an imperative to get vaccinated.”
One reason he thinks vaccination is critical is that this new virus has been unpredictable. There is increasing concern for what they call “long haulers” with Post Acute Covid-19 Syndrome.
“The numbers I’ve seen indicate that as much as thirty percent of people who catch Covid have long-term symptoms, including new health problems they didn’t have with the initial acute infection,” Thompson said. “People are commonly reporting brain fog, and stamina issues from continuing heart damage. I think we still don’t know all the damage this virus can cause. That is why it is our strong recommendation that, when it is your turn, take the vaccine that is offered to protect yourself and others. We don’t know what all this virus will do in the long term. That is why we want to avoid getting if at all possible.”
While children generally don’t become very ill when infected with Covid-19, there are no vaccines currently approved for those under the age of 16. So, vaccinations can protect children, and may eventually help allow in-person schooling to resume without the requirements for masking and social distancing.
“You can safeguard yourself, your family, your faith-based community and those in your broader community,” Thompson said. “There is a real need to get protected. And, right now, the only way to get protected is through a safe vaccination.”
People who have questions about health issues that might impact their vaccination are encouraged to talk to their physician. Thompson also recommends credible sources of information like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Arkansas Health Department and Harvard University rather than relying on social media posts.
“Something that is important to know is that in these vaccine trials, people who got the vaccine did not end up getting hospitalized or dying,” Thompson said. “Those are the things you want to avoid.”
If vaccination numbers are low, and people become less cautious about masking and social distancing, that gives an opening for variants that might be more contagious and deadly. Thompson said with each new virus infection, there is a small chance of a more dangerous variant emerging.
“A variant cannot emerge unless a virus is infecting someone new,” he said. “If you want to get back into your normal routine and enjoy spring and summer with extended family and friends safely, folks are going to need to get the vaccine,” Thompson said. “Don’t think this disease is just going to go away. This virus and its variants are across the U.S. and the world, and it is not going to disappear anytime soon. It will require us to achieve high levels of protection before we can get completely away from some of the guidance we have. This is a tricky virus, and we don’t know how it might mutate.”
This week the CDC released guidance that fully vaccinated people (those two weeks past their second Pfizer or Moderna shot, or two weeks past their one and only Johnson & Johnson shot) can visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or staying six feet apart and visit with unvaccinated people from one other household indoors without wearing masks or staying six feet apart if everyone in the other household is at low risk for severe disease. Fully vaccinated people can also refrain from quarantine and testing if they do not have symptoms of Covid-19 after coming into contact with someone who has Covid-19.
Thompson advised his 83-year-old mother recently that she will be able to resume playing bridge on Wednesday afternoons with her friends once everyone is fully vaccinated.
“I think it will be that type of opportunity that will make people say, ‘I want to get back to normal. Let me get my vaccine’,” he said. “I think social organizations should require proof of vaccination before coming back together for group activities. It is your social obligation or moral imperative to protect those you are going to be around.”
At present only about 9.2 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, but that number is increasing rapidly.
Currently healthcare workers are not being required to take the vaccine, which has received emergency use authorization, but not full approval from the FDA. Some local healthcare workers have refused the vaccine. Thompson said patients have a right to ask healthcare providers if they have been vaccinated.
“I think over time you will have healthcare institutions require their employees to be vaccinated,” Thompson said. “For the work I do at UAMS, I have to take the flu shot to protect me and prevent me from infecting other patients when they come in to get care. Right now, some employers are focusing on educating employees, and some are providing financial incentives to get vaccinated. Mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers are not going to happen immediately, but I think over time it will be required, so if you put a loved one in a hospital or nursing home, you will know the people treating them have been vaccinated.”