Should I get vaccinated for Covid-19?
As a Holistic Brain Health Practitioner and healer, many of my concerns with traditional Western medicine have to do with it’s relationship to big pharma. I’m disturbed by the idea that it depends on pills or surgery to solve almost every problem we have, paying little attention to the importance of lifestyle factors, and environment.
I share the alternative medicine community’s concerns about the number of vaccines our babies receive and when they receive them. I personally would like to see large scale studies that closely examine the vaccine schedules that babies currently receive (as well as other early life exposures), and to closely examine their developmental progress until they reach school age.
But before I became a healer, I was trained in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Until COVID hit, most Americans didn’t realize that pandemics have ravaged populations through all of recorded history. And for too many healers and alternative practitioners, I sense that many don’t know how hard life was before vaccines were developed.
Life before vaccines
The invention of vaccines is why most of us no longer (until COVID-19) had to live in fear of infectious diseases. This had a drastic impact on our sense of safety, and why we were able to live more freely than our ancestors. Before the smallpox vaccine, mothers worried that if their children contracted the disease, they would be scarred for life! Before the polio vaccine, we lived in fear of becoming crippled or not being able to breathe on our own for the rest of our lives. Thanks to polio, many ended up in an iron lung. Diptheria, which is now virtually non-existant thanks to vaccines, can damage the heart, kidneys and nervous system, and is deadly.
So now that we have a pandemic, our country isn’t responding to it in a way that appreciates the dangers of the coronavirus, and the consequences of not getting vaccinated. Not only can we die from it, but if we survive, even with a more mild case, we can end up with like the COVID long-hauler’s. In fact 50–80% of people end up with long-term symptoms associated with COVID-19! This often involves pain, headaches, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and loss of breath and extreme fatigue with exertion. In short, if we end up with the long hauler’s symptoms, it can substantially impact our long term ability to survive and thrive.
Why you should consider getting the vaccine
I didn’t jump on board with enthusiasm for the vaccine for COVID-19. I would have preferred if they put more money in nutritional research and alternative medicine, and not relied so heavily on a single solution. However, after having examined the evidence so far (recognizing that the truth can evolve with more research), I believe that the vast majority of the population should get this vaccine (unless science later proves otherwise).
As a full-time Holistic Brain Health practitioner for 9 yrs, I work with clients to do an objective assessment that identifies the root causes of what they are struggling with. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients over thousands of hours. It is extremely rare when I come across any negative effects due to vaccines, and I’ve not yet encountered anyone severely impacted by one. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I find frequent exposures to pollutants in the air, in man-made products, and food, and water, have had an infinitely more powerful and frequent impact on our health.
Weighing the Risks and Benefits
Again, I’m not a fan of pharmaceutical companies, or of even supporting them. But in the midst of a pandemic that has shut down tons of small businesses, and driven so much of our poor into tremendous poverty, and from the evidence re: safety and effectiveness of the vaccines so far, I urge almost everyone to get vaccinated if they have the opportunity to do so. The vaccines have been shown to reduce our risk of getting COVID by 95%. That is significant! But our net risk also depends on whether we are in the presence of infected individuals, and our adherence to public health protocols. And our personal risk depends much upon what others around us (whether we know them or not) do.
If you have personal health concerns that make you concerned about getting vaccinated, this article from infectious disease experts at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, “Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe?” is a fantastic summary of what you need to know about the safety and risks of the current vaccines. It is impossible to get COVID-19 from the vaccine! If you have a history of anaphylaxis or have any further concerns, please get a second opinion! Talk to your qualified healthcare professional. Remember, you must weigh the risks of getting the disease, against the risks of an adverse outcome if vaccinated.
Otherwise, I strongly urge you to consider getting vaccinated against COVID-19 when you are given the opportunity! For the vast majority of us, the risks of getting the disease, and all the risks that entails, far outweigh potential harm from the vaccines! We have too much at stake right now, and the benefits of getting vaccinated FAR outweigh the costs!
Our ability to fight this pandemic depends on the actions of all of us. If we get the coronavirus, it has another host in which to thrive. If we don’t feed it, it cannot survive, and we, the people will win. Please don’t feed the hungry coronavirus! We can overcome this pandemic, but it requires all of us to take a united front against the disease!
PS. This is NOT a generous endorsement for every vaccine.
PPS. To stay in touch with the best public health advice re: COVID-19, listen to the podcast from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Public Health On Call.
PPPS. I am not receiving any kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies for my opinion, nor do I have any financial relationship with them. My driving motivation in writing this, is that I want this pandemic to end for everyone!
