Why Bother Getting Vaccinated?
How vaccines protect us, and why we need them
As COVID cases begin to surge again across the country, many people are looking towards the future and the promise of a vaccine as a way to finally escape the difficult financial, emotional and mental strain that this pandemic has caused. But despite our collective desire to escape our current situation, debates about the true danger of the virus and how we as citizens should properly respond continues to rage at every level. While many people have embraced the idea of widespread vaccinations as a solution for COVID-19, many Canadians are still resistant to the idea of getting a vaccine. A recent Ipsos/Radio-Canada poll found that of 3001 respondents, 16 percent would not get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were approved and made available by Health Canada[PP1] [PP2] [PP3] , while another 21% were unsure. Of those who were willing to get the vaccine, only 36% said that they would get the vaccine as soon as it was available to all Canadians, with the majority of respondents stating that they would prefer to wait a few to several months to see how things go before deciding whether or not to be vaccinated.
As it turns out, this skepticism towards vaccination is nothing new. In 2019, the World Health Organization identified vaccine hesitancy (defined as the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines) as a key threat to worldwide global health[PP4] . In Canada, despite the availability and affordability of vaccines our childhood vaccination rates remain low compared to other developed countries, with the most recent data indicating that only 76% of two-year-olds have received all the recommended doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines and 2.6% of two-year-olds have not received any vaccinations at all. One reason given by many people for their hesitance to vaccinate themselves and their children is a fear of the side effects of vaccines, while many other people seem not to trust vaccines because they do not understand how they work.
So how do vaccines work? The basic concept behind vaccination was founded in the early 1800’s by Edward Jenner. He discovered that people who had become ill with cowpox seemed to be immune to the very similar and far more deadly smallpox virus. By injecting the less harmful cowpox particles into test subjects, he was able to create an immunity to smallpox. This first vaccine works on the same principle as vaccines today: by stimulating our immune system to fight off a virus.
Our immune system contains a variety of defense mechanisms that it uses to fight off disease. When someone is infected with a disease for the first time, their innate immune system responds to the unknown material in the body by releasing chemicals that cause inflammation and recruit non-specific defense cells to help fight off bacteria and viruses. The defenses of the innate immune system act quickly to prevent the spread of disease throughout the body. While this happens, the much slower Adaptive immune system uses unique pieces of the virus or bacteria to create cells specific for that virus (T- and B-cells). A small portion of these cells are stored in the body, so that the next time we are infected with the same disease the adaptive immune system can be activated much faster, wiping out the infection before it has the chance to cause serious illness. Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system so that it prepares defenses against the disease of interest.
One common misconception about vaccines is that doctors are injecting you with the same harmful virus you are trying to avoid, and that vaccines themselves can cause infection. This is not the case: none of the vaccines currently being tested can give you COVID-19. Different manufacturers are working on a few types of vaccine, including mRNA vaccines. mRNA vaccines contain genetic material from the virus that instructs our cells to make a harmless protein unique to the COVID-19 virus. Once this protein has been made, our immune system recognizes it as something which should not be there and begin making T- and B- cells which will target and destroy the COVID protein, and can remember that protein if we are infected by the full virus in the future. Health Canada is currently reviewing the Moderna vaccine, which is an mRNA vaccine, with experts claiming it could be approved in as little as “a week to 10 days[PP5] ”. The Pfizer vaccine, which is also on order and pending approval by Health Canada, is also an mRNA vaccine.
Although vaccines are widely accepted as safe by health experts across the globe, there are a few people who are unable to receive vaccines due to allergies, weakened immune systems or age (i.e. children under six months and the very elderly). This is why the concept of herd immunity is so important- by getting vaccinated you are not just protecting yourself from infection, you are reducing the ability of the virus to spread and protecting those who cannot receive the vaccine themselves. The threshold for herd immunity varies with each disease (due to factors including mode of transmission and virulence), Dr. Cécile Tremblay[PP6] , microbiologist and infectious diseases specialist at the CHUM is hopeful that if 70% of Canadians are vaccinated, outbreaks of COVID-19 could be stopped before they begin.
While vaccination is an important tool in the prevention of COVID-19, it is important to remember that it will not be a ‘miracle cure’ allowing us to return immediately to life pre-COVID. It could be over a year before all Canadians can be vaccinated- although Prime Minister Trudeau has set a goal of having the majority of Canadians vaccinated before September[PP7] - and it is important that we are careful to follow safety protocols even as doses are distributed.
[PP1]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/poll-finds-majority-of-canadians-open-to-getting-covid-19-vaccine-but-many-want-to-wait-1.5824067
[PP2]
[PP3]
[PP4]https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019
[PP5]https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-dec-3-2020-1.5825717/canada-could-approve-covid-19-vaccine-in-week-to-10-days-says-health-canada-senior-adviser-1.5826508
[PP6]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/poll-finds-majority-of-canadians-open-to-getting-covid-19-vaccine-but-many-want-to-wait-1.5824067
[PP7]https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/top-general-to-lead-vaccine-rollout-aims-to-immunize-majority-by-september-pm-1.5207122