Part 1: Bridge The Pandemic “Fear-to-Faith” Gap Series

• Fear is the greater enemy and more damaging than Covid-19 if not wisely managed. 
• World class companies produced the vaccines so these are fairly safe. But concerns are legitimate given the EUA approval and the usage of untested mRNA technology.
• The greater issue is which do we fear more and to act accordingly. If no option, then take the vaccine, or any less frightening course fo that matter!

We better have peace than living daily with anxiety. A fear-soaked mind is prone to accidents. There are also damaging risks such as low productivity, job loss, IAD (Illness Anxiety Disorder), substance abuse, or a mental health problem that can result to depression or worse, suicide.

Chronic fear or stress has been proven to cause various illnesses and dire consequences. It is incidental that the one powerfully fomenting fear now is Covid 19. The greater issue is our anxiety.

“World-Class” Options

The vaccine manufacturers are “world-class” organizations and comparable to equally complex production ecosystems such as the production of nano microchip or the sending of a probe to outer space. So we are not dealing with fly-by-night, simpleminded, or uncertified corporations producing “doubtful” products. 

Pfizer-BioNTech is a large pharmaceutical company. And so is Johnson & Johnson/Jannsen and AstraZeneca. Moderna is relatively new and small but has been in messenger RNA (mRNa) research considerably long and is the “largest biotech initial public offering in history”.

From  the non-western hemisphere, Sinovac and Sinopharm (both from China), and Gam-COVID-Vac (or Sputnik V from Russia) are other viable options recognized by WHO and are equally respected on that part of the world.

The vaccines have various levels efficacy but are at least 50% (as required by FDA). The effectiveness fluctuates upward depending on the region where it is administered and appears working for the majority.

“World-Class” Doubts

There is vaccination hesitancy of course – and valid at that given the less than 100% efficacy – so the real dilemma is what we fear more.

Notably, vaccine efficacy is different from vaccine effectiveness. The former refers to the result of the experimental trials while the latter is about the actual usage results. Only time will tell if which turns out to be higher!

The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) was issued to cover the inadequacies of the “fast-tracked” vaccines against FDA’s long-held approval protocol. FDA allows the “unapproved uses of approved medical products in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions when certain statutory criteria have been met, including that there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives.” 

Under EUA, FDA must determine though that at least “the known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks of the vaccine.” In other words, it has to be shown that these vaccines work and that while there is risk in taking these, it is riskier not to.

The goal is to present verifiable facts that in the end will enable us to decide for ourselves and address our fear freely and objectively.

Quality Comparison

The usual development of vaccines takes about 10-15 years and the fastest one developed prior to Covid-19 was 4 years during the 1960’s for mumps. 

The Covid-19 vaccines were developed in less than a year. So with no long-term efficacy data, the pharmaceutical companies are indemnified by governments from complications through the EUA.

Comparably,  it is now common to have at least 5 years or 100,000km vehicle warranty. It is no easy feat to provide a guarantee if there are about 30,000 parts in a car with around a third moving ones. 

The vehicle manufacturers are able to guarantee because of long-term research and usage experience. This is despite the variabilities due to the weather, drivers (and passengers) physique and temperaments, road conditions, designs, materials used, suppliers, etc. 

Variabilities and New Technologies

Vaccines research has been around since the 11th Century CE when the Chinese reportedly used inoculation to combat smallpox. The methodology and sophistication has leapfrogged since then. We even use now a new mRNA technology in the vaccine of Pfizer and Moderna.

The truth though is, there is more variability in producing a vaccine than in cars. And that is why it usually takes a decade to fully certify a microscopic substance in a jab! 

And there is not enough time to experiment, thus the EUA. In the case of mRNA, add that there has been no product released in the market using that technology until its usage as Covid vaccine! It was actually intended earlier for customized cancer treatment!

Additionally, our 5 liters of blood contain billions of WBC and is supposed to work well with a particular vaccine’s antigen in eliciting a proper response (using the new mRNA method for Pfizer and Moderna or the older inactivated virus DNA path for J&J, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V). 

Gigantically, each immune system of the 7.8 Billion people on earth is unique! So the vaccines’ testing permutations are mind-boggling! Who can certify such possibilities in such a short time?!

Conclusion

We better have that jab faster than a bullet train! That is a better way to address our fear of infection, misery, depression, suicide, or death if we do not have a better alternative. 

(Note: But what if we do NOT have access because we are NOT part of the priority list? Or if we are from third world countries where a critical level of vaccination is projected to be reached only at the end of 2023? Are we stuck with fear? No! Have faith! We are not left hapless. Part 2 of this “Bridging The Covid-19 Fear-to-Faith Gap Series” will address that.)