Covid-19, Should I Get Vaccinated?

Covid-19, Should I Get Vaccinated?

 Laurence T. Gayao MD

Unless you have been isolated from the rest of humanity you would aware that we have this devastating Covid-19 pandemic. Today December 12, 2020 in the US total reported cases 16.1 million +, total reported death 297,971. In the last 24 hours we have 207,267 new infections and 2,259 deaths. Now we have vaccines ready to be given. The question is should I take it or not?

After the outbreak of measles that started in Disneyland in California, the debate of whether to vaccinate or not came into the spot light. Anti vaccination movement is not a new phenomenon. “ John Pitcairn , the wealthy founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now  PPG Industries ), emerged as a major financier and leader of the American anti-vaccination movement. On March 5, 1907, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he delivered an address to the Committee on Public Health and Sanitation of the  Pennsylvania General Assembly  criticizing vaccination. [25]  He later sponsored the National Anti-Vaccination Conference, which, held in Philadelphia in October 1908, led to the creation of  The Anti-Vaccination League of America . When the league organized later that month, members chose Pitcairn as their first president.”

 

I am not going to debate the pros and cons on vaccinations because ever since both sides of this issue have been doing this for over a hundred years. I am not going to delve into pre & post vaccination statistics on disability and mortality due to these illnesses. I would just rather share my first hand observations of my fifty years career as a physician.

 

Early in my career in the early 1970’s in the Philippines it was not uncommon to see cases with diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough. I still vividly remember diphtheria in toddlers presenting in emergency room in severe respiratory distress and we had to call in a surgeon to do an emergency tracheotomy, (create hole in neck to the wind pipe} on them to alleviate upper airway obstruction.  I was glad when I moved to the United States I never had seen a case of diphtheria, although there were 53 reported cases of it between 1980 and 2000 in the US.

 

The first case of tetanus or lock jaw that I saw was when I was a resident physician. Parents brought their child to the hospital with intermittent severe muscle spasms but the child was completely alert. I said to myself this is not seizure so I told the old nurse this kid may have some psychiatric issues. The nurse quickly retorted “no doc, that kid has tetanus.” So I went to the hospital library and read on the subject and sure enough she was right. There l learned early one valuable lesson to listen to your nurses. The two cases that year that I saw the child and another adult both died and it was disheartening to see them die in a miserable death and we were helpless in effectively intervene in the course of the illness. During that time there was no human tetanus immunoglobulin (medication with immune antibodies against tetanus) and we just tried to treat the symptoms with sedatives, pain medication, muscle relaxants, kept them in a dark quite room and hydrated them with intravenously.

 

Another illness I saw early my career was polio were victims in their prime of life ending up with partial paralysis, some bad enough to be confined to wheelchairs. All these patients I saw all outside the United States were the herd immunity (the total percentage of the population that were vaccinated) was low because of poverty and inadequate public measures during that time.

 

I had whooping cough when I was in high school and I still recall how miserable I was, I had severe unrelenting coughing spells that made me almost pass out and made my hurt chest wall hurt, and this went on for about a month. It has been years since I had seen patients with this problem until about the past ten years I have seen more sporadic cases presenting in the emergency room and I few of them infants in respiratory distress that required hospitalization.

 

Thou shall not vaccinate? For me, all I could say is I have seen what some of these illnesses could do to people, they may kill or disable their victims and I hope never have to see patients with these illnesses if possible.  Before vaccinations undeniably a lot of people got disabled or died from these illnesses, now that some of these illnesses have almost disappeared because of vaccination and we see more side effects from vaccinations than the illnesses themselves. The debate for or not to vaccinate will go on with both sides passionate for their causes and there is enough data out there to show incidence and mortality pre and post vaccination era and also the side effects of these vaccinations. I have heard from the grape-vine that malpractice lawyers are waiting just for victims of these illnesses that develop significant complications and even deaths should an epidemic occur to see if their physicians made the parents or victims sign a document of informed refusal of treatment for those that were not vaccinated to make a suit.  Right now they are suing for vaccination injuries.

I often hear people say there are a lot of harmful substances in those vaccines. Let us see exactly the facts on this question.

What goes into vaccines?

Aside from antigens, ingredient components of a vaccine include adjuvants, added to enhance the immune system response; antibiotics, to prevent contamination during the manufacturing process; and preservatives and stabilizers.

Thimerosal (ethylmercury)

• Why is it used? This mercury-containing ingredient has been used as a preservative in vaccines since the 1930s. Today, it is only found in vaccines for influenza. Preservatives are necessary for preventing dangerous bacterial or fungal contamination, but thimerosal has since become a major source of vaccine safety concerns.
• Health concerns? While mercury is a naturally-occurring element found in soil, water, and food, large amounts of it can be harmful, especially for children. Back in 1997, children were receiving three vaccines that together contained more mercury than the EPA recommended limit (though not more than the FDA limit). This led to speculation that thimerosal in vaccines could be linked to autism or other conditions.
• Is it safe? Years of research have reduced concerns here. The type of mercury found in thimerosal, ethylmercury, differs from methylmercury, the type commonly found in fish and known to be harmful in large amounts. Ethylmercury is broken down and excreted from the body much more quickly than methylmercury, and no scientific study has found a link between ethylmercury and autism or any other harmful effects.
• Amount in vaccines? Nonetheless, several public health agencies and vaccine manufacturers agreed in 1999 to cease using thimerosal as a precautionary measure. Today, no vaccine contains Thimerosal except the influenza vaccine, and Thimerosal-free alternatives are available.

Formaldehyde

• Why is it used? Formaldehyde has been used for decades in vaccines to inactivate viruses and detoxify bacterial toxins, ensuring they don’t result in sickness when injected.
• Health concerns? The U.S. EPA classifies formaldehyde as a carcinogen, as does the International Agency for Cancer Research and the National Toxicology Program. Additionally, several studies have since linked strong, long-term formaldehyde exposure to certain types of cancer.
• Is it safe? The potential for harm depends on the amount. Formaldehyde is always present in the human body as part of our natural metabolic process, but long-term exposure to high amounts can overwhelm our system and be harmful. Fortunately, the amount of formaldehyde found in vaccines is very small, most of it being diluted down to residual amounts during the manufacturing process. In fact, the FDA reports there is 50 to 70 times more formaldehyde present in an average newborn’s body than in a single dose of vaccine. In brief, current science shows formaldehyde in vaccines to be harmless.
• Amount in vaccines? The highest amount of formaldehyde present in any vaccine is .02 mg per dose. An average two-month-old baby would have around 1.1 mg of formaldehyde circulating in their body, with higher naturally-occurring amounts for older children.

Aluminum

• Why is it used? Aluminum is used as an adjuvant in vaccines. That is, it makes them more effective by strengthening the immune system response. Thanks to adjuvants, people need fewer doses of vaccine to build immunity.
• Health concerns? Sometimes the mention of aluminum in vaccines makes parents uneasy; that’s because there has been some evidence that long-term exposure to high amounts of aluminum can contribute to brain and bone disease. However, aluminum is naturally present in water, foods, even breast milk. Aluminum has only been shown to harm people if absorbed in very high amounts and when a person’s kidneys aren’t working properly. In contrast, the amount of aluminum in vaccines is negligible.
• Is it safe? Aluminum is the third most common naturally-occurring element, after oxygen and silicon. It is found in plants, soil, air, and water. A breast-fed infant will naturally ingest around 7 milligrams of aluminum in her diet throughout the first six months of her life. In contrast, the standard vaccines administered over the first six months of an infant’s life contain an average of just 4.4 milligrams of aluminum. Aluminum has been used safely for over six decades in vaccines, with no scientific evidence indicating otherwise.
• Amount in vaccines? The amount of aluminum in vaccines is tiny. In fact, babies always have a small naturally occurring amount of aluminum in their bloodstreams, about 5 nanograms. The quantity of aluminum in a vaccine is so small it doesn’t cause any noticeable raise in this base amount found in the blood, even immediately after an injection.

Antibiotics

• Why are they used? During the production process of some vaccines, antibiotics may be used to counter the risk of dangerous bacterial infection.
• Health concerns? Concern occasionally arises about antibiotics in vaccines because of the risk of allergic reactions in some children.
• Is it safe? These fears are greatly exaggerated. Vaccine manufacturers only use antibiotics that are far less likely to provoke a reaction, and because antibiotics are only used during production, they are reduced to trace or undetectable amounts in the final product. In fact, no allergic reaction to a vaccine has ever been traced back to antibiotics. The overall odds a child will suffer from a severe allergic reaction from an MMR or Hepatitis B vaccine, from any ingredient, is 1 in 1,000,000, one hundred times less than the 1 in 10,000 chance a child will be struck by lightning.
• Amount in vaccines? During the purification steps of the production process, antibiotics are removed, resulting in miniscule or undetectable amounts in the final vaccine.

Gelatin

• Why is it used? Gelatin is used as a preservative and stabilizer, keeping vaccines effective under heat or cold and for the duration of their shelf life.
• Health concerns? For a very small number of children, gelatin can cause an allergic reaction.
• Is it safe? While gelatin is the single largest identifiable source of severe allergic reactions from vaccines, the incidence rate is still incredibly small. There is about one case of anaphylaxis caused by gelatin in vaccines for every two million injections.
• Amount in vaccines? The amount of gelatin varies by vaccine, with the MMR vaccine on the high end, containing 14.5 mg per dose, and the DTaP on the low end, with only 0.0015 mg. Children with a history of gelatin allergies can seek alternatives or exemptions.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

• Why is it used? Like gelatin, MSG is used as a preservative and stabilizer in some vaccines, keeping them effective through heat, cold, and shelf life.
• Health concerns? MSG gained a bad reputation starting in the 1960s after anecdotal reports surfaced of nausea, headaches, flushing, or sweating due to food with MSG. As a result, concern has spread about its use in vaccines. However, these concerns are not supported by scientific research.
• Is it safe? While the scientific community acknowledges that a very small minority of people may suffer from short-term reactions to MSG, decades of research have not found the element to be harmful. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations all declare MSG to be safe. It has been used for decades and continues to be used in foods as a flavor-enhancer.
• Amount in vaccines? While some websites have trumped up MSG-based alarm, it is only present in two scheduled vaccines, adenovirus and influenza.

To put into perspective many of these substances are in the food and water we drink and they are so miniscule to make a difference in one’s health. Within the last week I have had two physicians and a heart-lung machine operator who I personally know that lost their lives to Covid-19. The number of casualties I have seen in my 50 years in practice due to other illnesses compares with nothing I have seen due to Covid-19 in the last few months.

How are vaccines developed?

Most vaccines have been in use for decades, with millions of people receiving them safely every year. As with all medicines, every vaccine must go through extensive and rigorous testing to ensure it is safe before it can be introduced in a country’s vaccine program.

Covid-19, Should I Get Vaccinated?

I don’t know about you? I am scheduled to get the vaccination as soon as our physician group gets a hold of it. The sooner the better.

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