4 minute read
just as the virus that causes covid-19 continues to mutate, and public health recommendations change as we learn more about variants, people who oppose the covid vaccine have new concerns. there may be some people who still conflate side effects with adverse effects, or who believe they don’t need the vaccine if they’re young and healthy . but now, as canada has started giving out covid vaccine boosters — first to the immunocompromised and the elderly, with eligibility gradually increasing — people who are vaccine-hesitant now have new booster-related issues to cite.
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“in medicine, this is something that’s happened before when we’ve had to deal with disease,” sankar says. she regularly reminds people that canada recommends four doses of the polio vaccine , for instance. polio is an infectious disease that used to paralyze or kill thousands of canadians a year , mostly children; outbreaks were especially bad in the 1940s and early ’50s. a vaccine was first introduced in 1955; polio is no longer a problem on a large scale in canada.
some people who oppose the idea of mandatory vaccinations because they fear government control talk about boosters as unfair . the government initially barred people who didn’t receive a full vaccine program from going to some public spaces and performing certain jobs — but now it’s conceivable that even those we currently consider to be ‘fully vaccinated’ may, in the future, not be allowed to do certain things until they get a booster. in fact, france announced this week that people aged 65 and over would not be allowed to access restaurants, trains or planes without proof of a booster shot.
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yes, it’s troubling that omicron and other new variants are attacking the virus’ spike protein — but a lack of vaccination is largely driving those mutations .
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“it’s important for people to know that even though some of the preliminary data is saying that there’s a reduction in the neutralizing antibodies of those who are vaccinated, that is not a completely negative thing, because we still have our t cell responses ,” sankar says, adding that these are the same debates that have been happening around the other variants delta and mu, as well.
