My take on the COVID19 vaccine(s)
First, it's important for you to understand how I think about vaccines in general. My primary specialty is pediatrics and adolescent medicine, since 1986. Following my training years, I immediately spent a year studying at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Hygiene (now the Bloomberg School of Public Health) in Baltimore. My focus there was on international child and adolescent health, disease prevention on a population level, and how to improve health quality of life around the world. My own personal history of education and medical practice forms the foundation for how I think about vaccines.
A number I will never forget may surprise you. Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, an average of 2.6 million children were dying of measles every year. Every year. 2.6 million. Widespread use of this safe and effective vaccine was responsible for saving millions of lives, so that between the years of 2000 and 2018 alone, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 23.2 million deaths. And even at that, still in 2018, there were more than 140,000 deaths from measles globally, mostly in preschool aged children. A resurgence in measles cases is largely attributed to vaccine hesitancy that initially began because of a later retracted article in the medical journal Lancet, that falsely speculated an association between the MMR vaccine and autism. My own personal medical experience informs my attitudes as well, drawing on 38 years of pediatric practice where I have not seen a single case of permanent harm from a vaccine, but have personally witnessed children dying under my care, in my early years of practice, from diseases that we no longer see because of effective immunization.
How do I weigh the COVID19 vaccines then? First, I weigh the seriousness of the threat of not having the vaccines. And who can forget the trauma of the past 15 months? Hospitals overwhelmed, doctors and nurses dying in the line of duty, almost one in 500 Americans dead since March of 2020. And it's not over. COVID19 is still ravaging much of South America, parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The world is still in danger. Second, the safety of the vaccines. While there have been some serious adverse effects, these appear to be rare, and mostly treatable. I am impressed that companies and government regulators are doing their utmost to only allow safe vaccines to stay in use, as evidenced by withdrawal of some vaccines from the market, and refusal to authorize others. And the data are clear that vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness and death, almost 100%, despite allowing some minor illnesses to occur.
How can a vaccine be compatible with natural or holistic medicine? Just think of it this way. A vaccine introduces a microscopic dose into your system that stimulates your own natural immune system to do what it needs to do in order to prevent a disease that could kill you. The vaccine doesn't stay in your system, it simply provokes your immune system to go on alert to protect you. In some ways, that is very similar to the proposed mechanisms of homeopathy. I am quite satisfied with that outcome, and much prefer it over getting seriously ill.
What about natural remedies, herbs and vitamins? Yes, very important. But they don't take the place of vaccines. I wrote about these in our office newsletter in April 2020 and will make sure it is up on the Blog page of our office website.
to your good health,
Robert Pendergrast, MD, MPH
803-426-1421
https://www.csraholistichealth.com/
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