Why No?

I’m often asked – as is the conversation of the day – have I had ‘my’ vaccine yet? – the Covid-19 one. When I say No – and further say that I won’t be having it I find the questioner is left not wanting to ask Why No?

I’m actually not certain why they don’t ask – perhaps they assume I must be a touch crazy – or maybe they couldn’t answer with certainty if I asked them why they are having it. I’m generally regarded as an intelligent human – with a degree in dentistry I’m no stranger to medical thinking. Perhaps they just don’t want their thinking challenged. Either way – I thought I’d write my reasoning in the form of a blog.

There are 2 main reasons why no – firstly the personal ones. I do all the right things to safeguard my health and keep my immune system in good shape – diet, exercise, sleep, meditation, mindset, supplements. I’m not high risk. If I was to do a personal risk:benefit analysis I have no doubt that for me, No is the correct answer.

Second the technology reasons. These vaccines are ‘new technology’ and are administered under ’emergency licence’- full testing will not be complete until 2023. Long term health risks may not appear for some time afterwards. I’ve seen correlations suggested between vaccination (general) and increased susceptibility to auto-immune disease: I already live with a controlled auto-immune disease – why risk another? Further there is a suggestion of increased chance of hyper-immune response (cytokine storm) when exposed to a coronavirus variant following vaccination. If I was to consider these factors in my personal risk:benefit analysis, then for me, No is the correct answer.

I appreciate everyone is different – their personal risk:benefit analysis may well have driven them to a different conclusion: and that is fine by me. Perhaps they are in a more susceptible group, perhaps their personal exposure to conditions where the virus is prevalent is high, perhaps they just feel safer being vaccinated.

Do what is right for you. For me it’s a No.