We begin today’s column with a plea to those who have still not obtained their vaccines to visit one of the vaccination centres and get their jabs as soon as possible. It is one of the most important ways of safeguarding themselves and those they come in contact with. 

In the wake of the vaccination programme launched for those between 29 and 30 years of age, media reports quoted Colombo Municipality’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ruwan Vijayamuni as saying that there is a lack of enthusiasm among the youth in Colombo to
obtain the vaccine.

The foregoing is what prompted us to make this plea to anti-vaxxers -- those hesitating, delaying or refusing to be vaccinated due to complacency, fear of needles, or a lack of understanding about how vaccines work. They are requested to put aside their prejudices and inhibitions with regard to vaccines and get their jabs while health authorities have often highlighted the fact that most of those dying of COVID-related complications have been those who had not taken their vaccines for some reason or another. 

The public are urged to avoid looking for any specific brand of vaccines but instead to obtain whatever that is currently available and avoid falling prey to the deadly viral infection. People, especially those above the age of 60, who have genuine reasons for not being vaccinated due to some illness they may be suffering, are urged to contact the health authorities and have their misgivings or doubts cleared up on this life and death matter.

It is against this backdrop that the Daily Mirror carried an article which said healthcare workers were alarmed at groups of anti-vaxxers, sprouting up in Sri Lanka and in several other countries, attempting to convince others to follow suit for dubious or ambiguous reasons. Falling prey to the machinations of such groups will only endanger the un-vaccinated. With so many deaths and the lingering ill-effects from COVID-19 among people in this country and the world over, the risks from this disease far outweigh any perceived risks from the vaccines.

Health authorities are also continuing to urge all those above 30 years of age who are yet to be vaccinated, to take their jabs without giving heed to the myths and misconceptions mostly spread by some misguided religious leaders about the harmful effects of vaccines. There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that vaccines are generally safe and effective, and vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Incidentally, vaccine hesitancy is characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top ten global health threats.

“It is difficult to get rid of false delusions such as that of the likelihood of vaccines causing infertility and impotence. There is no truth to this. We urge people not to fall prey to this kind of misinformation but go ahead and take their vaccines,” medical experts said.

Meanwhile, in an episode of ‘Science in 5’, Dr. Katherine O’Brien, the Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at the WHO, said the vaccines we have against COVID are incredibly effective. She said there might be cases of disease among people who were fully vaccinated and certainly among some people who were partially vaccinated. “This doesn’t mean that the vaccines are not working or that there is something wrong with the vaccines. What it does mean is that not everybody who receives vaccines has 100% protection. What we do want to emphasize is that it’s so important to get vaccinated because these vaccines are really effective and gives you a good chance of not developing disease,” Dr. ‘O’Brien said.

She said the severity of the disease among people who have breakthrough infections is less than among the unvaccinated. Vaccines operate in a couple of different ways. “First, of course, they are preventing people from getting the disease at all. And even when disease does occur among the fully vaccinated, the severity of that disease is less,” Dr. O’Brien said.

If we are keen, as we must all be, to eradicate this scourge from our soil, we need to cooperate with the health authorities by strictly adhering to the prescribed health guidelines -- the washing of hands, physical distancing, the wearing of face masks, avoiding crowded areas and as far as possible by not venturing outside our homes, unless it is very essential.

Amid so much at stake, it is best that we overcome this deadly disease by using the best available means, which is that of being vaccinated. Get vaccinated is our plea to the unvaccinated.