COVID-19 Vaccine - Should I or Shouldn't I Get the Vaccine?

If you're looking for the short answer to why you should get vaccinated, scroll down to the heading "What the Leading Professionals have to say."

I'm first going to be completely honest and state from the beginning: this post title is misleading. There is no real debate in my mind, based off of all of the information I'm going to provide in this blog post; You should get vaccinated for COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2).

This blog is titled the way it's titled, because there still seems to be a debate in some people's minds on whether or not they should get vaccinated.

Where I'm coming From

I have been extremely vocal over the last two months about being pro-vaccination, especially when it comes to COVID-19.

I have become even more vocal over the past week as I have read articles about the falling numbers for people scheduling vaccination appointments. People are still getting vaccinated but we've started to shift from the enthusiastic, "let's get this done" crowd to the skeptical crowd.

I understand the hesitation to a certain degree. At times I'm weary of modern western medicine too.

In late 1992 my dad was given 6 months or less to live due to a brain tumor. A few weeks after the news was given to us, he was contacted by his doctor at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for an experimental treatment with radiation therapy. He lived an additional 27 years due to this experimental treatment. So, in many ways, I am thankful for modern medicine and the scientists and doctors who created this technology that kept my dad in my life long enough for me to know him.

On the other hand, I watched him die a slow, awful death in the end. He had radiation poisoning, from his experimental treatment, which caused dementia. It also lead to a series of strokes which effected the right side of his body, with other symptoms such as slurred speech, troubles with his right hand and a limp when he walked. He fell and got hurt frequently, including a broken arm at one point and serious bruising that took months or years to heal. It was drawn out over the course of many years and watching him deteriorate in that slow, painful manor was awful. In the end he had multiple mini-brain tumors grow in his brain and there was no way to treat the new tumors. Not with his body being so damaged from previous treatments. The same treatments that prolonged his life.

I am thankful for doctors. I am thankful for science. I am so incredibly thankful for those years with my dad. I also have a healthy fear of what goes into my body now. What might it do later?

With that said, I did not hesitate to get vaccinated for COVID-19. It was never even in my mind to hesitate.

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is not the same situation.

There are decades of research that have gone into mRNA vaccines.

This is a virus that has killed over 3.3 million people around the world in just over one year! It's still killing people daily. We must do what we can do to not let it kill anyone else.

Sara getting the first dose of the Moderna Vaccine April 9, 2021.

Why I Feel I Need to Write this Blog

As I said before, I have been vocal about the fact that people need to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Because of my vocalization of this belief, I have had a few messages in the last few days from friends, family and even a couple of strangers, voicing their personal concern over the vaccine.

"My friend who has a husband who's a pharmacist..." was the beginning of a conversation I had recently. I won't go through the whole conversation but I'll tell you the pharmacist (who is completely unknown to me) is waiting to get the vaccine because they personally feel the vaccine was too rushed.

I have also had two concerned individuals send videos from YouTube with scientists and doctors stating opinions on why they think the vaccine is not needed or why you shouldn't get it. I'll also state, these scientists/doctors, etc. are not widely known and I could not find outstanding credentials for them besides the title of MD.

I've been keeping up-to-date on COVID-19 news (my usual news sources include The New York Times, NPR and BBC. I also read all of the random stuff Facebook has to offer, but I'm fairly good at making sure I'm never relying on just one or even just two sources before I believe it). There has been news of a decline in vaccination rates while millions of people remain unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. An even larger concern is the growing number of people who only receive the first dose but do not show up for the second dose.

If you look at the information collected by the CDC, the first dose is coming along nicely in well populated areas! Almost half of the states in the United States have used 70-80% of the vaccines distributed so far. But there are many people who are not following through for the second dose. Current research shows the second shot is needed for the vaccine to be fully effective.

Then there is the second half of the country where the numbers are much less promising. Southern states and a few Northern states such as Idaho and Wyoming are having lower turnout and vaccines are sitting around, waiting for people to show up for them.

When you combine all of that, only around 37% of the country is FULLY vaccinated at this point.

We are making strong progress, but it's not enough to get comfortable. We could see another wave of COVID-19 infections if we become complacent. There are still countries experiencing devastating death tolls from COVID such as India and Nepal. If people become comfortable and we don't see the same urgency for getting vaccinated that we did in the beginning, the number of COVID cases in the US could rise again. Another wave in COVID-19 infections directly means a rise in more family, friends, coworkers, etc. being put at risk for serious illness or even death. (NPR - Updates this page daily).

I personally feel that the CDC and the government in general (federal and state) hasn't had the best public outreach campaign for getting information out about the vaccine. I'm not someone who watches much TV at all, and I've lessened my social media intake over the last two months, so maybe that's where they're focusing their time and attention? But I haven't seen much information widely dispersed at all.

I would expect that something as important as this should be everywhere - full page ads, billboards, flyers and postcards in peoples mailbox, advertisements everywhere explaining the vaccine and how it helps the local, national and global problems caused by COVID-19.

All of that to say - information about getting vaccinated for COVID-19 needs to be in front of people.

Not just information - but TRUSTED information.

Information from the people and places we look to when no one else can help us out.

Because of this belief, I spent my Sunday morning going through hospital pages to collect data for you. This information is for the people who are still asking themselves, "Should I or shouldn't I get the vaccine?

As I said from the beginning, yes you should get the vaccine.

But don't take my word for it -

Don't take the word of your friend of a friends pharmacist for it -

Don't take the word of that YouTube video scientist or doctors opinion to heart -

Instead let's see what the professionals have to say. The hospitals and clinics, doctors, nurses, physicians and scientists we trust with our lives when no one else can help us, and have given so much to help combat this virus over the past 18 months.

What the Leading Professionals Have to Say

The Mayo Clinic (located in Rochester, MN, Florida, Arizona) when asked "Should I get Vaccinated for COVID-19" says "You should get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it's available to you."

See what they say here.

They also offer this utterly fantastic resource on COVID-19 and the various vaccines. They have podcasts, articles, Q&A and just about everything you could wish to know about regarding this virus and the vaccines created to stop it.

Check it out by clicking here.

Find even more specific information here.

The University of Iowa Healthcare and Clinics has this to say about getting vaccinated for COVID-19, "The first available appointment for a vaccine is the best one for you and our community. If you have the opportunity to be vaccinated elsewhere, such as through your local pharmacy, we encourage you to accept that appointment to be vaccinated as soon as possible."

Find information on their website (including this quote) here.

There is also a wealth of knowledge on their website about how the vaccines were created and the long history behind prepping mRNA vaccines.

Find that info here.

The University of Iowa itself has this to say, "The University of Iowa strongly encourages students, faculty, and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination will help protect you from getting COVID-19 and is a safer way to build protection than through natural immunity."

You can read that here.

And if you are concerned about the side effects of the vaccine, the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics have done a study of vaccinated Iowans!

Read about it here in the Daily Iowan.

John Hopkins Medicine currently has all three vaccines available and has this to say, "All three FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are being given at Johns Hopkins Medicine: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. We regard all three as highly effective in preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19."

Find that quote and more here.

John Hopkins has a brilliant website that covers concerns over how quick the vaccine was created and the truth behind its rapid creation.

Find all of that information here.

They also have a whole section on Myth Busters! Have you heard something you're concerned about? They discuss concerns people have raised such as mRNA, vaccines causing infertility or changing DNA, or vaccines containing questionable substances. This is by far one of the most easy to read and comprehensive resources answering questions some are still concerned about.

Find the Myth Busting questions and answers here.

John Hopkins says, "We encourage you to use all resources available to you to find a vaccination clinic." Don't just wait for your Primary Care Physician (or more specific to them - an appointment to open up at John Hopkins).

I also found this article very interesting for breaking down information on the vaccines creation.

Lastly, everyone has strong opinions about the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) right now. I have my own critical thoughts on how they choose to provide or not provide information, but that doesn't stop the fact that they are an invaluable resource.

Here you can find all you need to know about COVID-19, vaccination and medical, scientific data.

Since many of my family and friends are from Cedar Rapids, IA or Madison, WI, I also have this to add:

St Lukes Hospital, Cedar Rapids, IA says "Even though the virus itself is new, the science behind the vaccines is not new—it is rooted in years of research, and every step of the vaccine process went through the same safety assessments as all other vaccines."

Information on vaccinating for COVID-19 is located here.

And more information can be found here.

Mercy Hospital, Cedar Rapids, IA says "The vaccines are effective and are an important tool in significantly reducing the spread of COVID-19 to help us get back to more normal routines we enjoyed prior to the pandemic."

Information on vaccinating for COVID-19 is located here.

They actually have a fantastic Q & A section that I enjoyed reading on that link above as well.

Schedule your appointment here.

University of Wisconsin Health, Madison, WI says, "UW Health providers and experts agree that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19. Getting vaccinated not only protects you, it protects the people around you, particularly people at risk for severe illness from COVID-19."

Information on vaccinating for COVID-19 is located here.

And finally, my own medical network, Kaiser Permanente in Northern California says "The pandemic has kept us apart, but we can end it together. Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the fastest way back to all those moments you’ve been missing — and the best way to keep your loved ones safe and healthy."

Read about getting vaccinated here.

Parting Words

I hope this helps in your research on whether or not you should get vaccinated for COVID-19.

It is my strong belief, based on hours of research and reading medical data from the leading hospitals, doctors and scientists in the United States, that getting vaccinated for this virus is the only way we will be able to fully move forward from the horrific fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

You don't have to take my word for it, but please do not write off the professionals. Their life's work fuels their opinion that the COVID-19 vaccine is the only way forward.

It's free.

It's quick.

It saves lives.

Get Vaccinated.