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The answer is that there isn’t one, at least now. Yes, refusing a vaccine is your choice, but because your choice affects the lives of many other people, you may lose certain privileges for the foreseeable future. However, what we can do now is determine how to have conversations with people who feel indecisive in a way that doesn’t feel degrading or holier than you. People have valid concerns about vaccinations, that’s okay! For myriad reasons: warp speed, a history of medical mistrust within underserved communities, medical freedom, etc. However, for parts of the wellness community in particular, a potentially mandatory vaccination goes against what many people believe: taking control of your health by strengthening your immune system.
These concerns won’t be addressed overnight, of course, but preventive medicine specialist David Katz, MD, says that checking your immunity doesn’t necessarily translate to vaccination (if you don’t want to). “If you want to do X no mask before date Y, you need evidence of immunity, either through an antibody test or a vaccine. That is quite reasonable and it does not really mandate the vaccination of anyone, ”he tells mbg. “In other words, contextually specific mandates strike a balance between public safety and personal autonomy.” That is, you do not have to get vaccinated if you decide not to; you will only have to verify your immunity in some other way, or you will have to refrain from certain activities for the public good.
He also suggests approaching it from a risk-reward perspective: “Receiving a vaccine is a greater risk than not receiving it, because no medical procedure of any kind carries a ‘zero’ risk. Nor do you cross the street! “He says.” What matters now for each individual is this: What is the lowest risk and highest reward option among the options actually available? And how does that choice affect not only personal risk / benefit, but also personal risk / benefit. same ratio for others in our network of loved ones and close contacts? ”
Realistically, the vaccine won’t be released right away either: like this New York Times shows interactive vaccine timeline, unless you belong to the older and at-risk population, have COVID-related health problems or work in a healthcare facility, you are likely to end up around the 100 million in line . If you are concerned about the effectiveness of the vaccine, you probably have some time before you are tasked with making a decision. What if you are at risk for a serious COVID infection? Well, those consequences may outweigh the side effects of the vaccine itself. Take it from Katz: “COVID vaccines, although they are produced rapidly, and although we don’t have long-term data yet, it is very likely that they are vastly safer for most adults than taking a chance on SARS-CoV-2.”
But if we continue to polarize the conversation, rest assured that we will get nowhere. People are allowed to have doubts; they are allowed to have questions. At the end of the day, Purikh notes, “We have to see it as a collective responsibility.” Not to see it as one side against the other, but to blaze a path forward with thoughtful and healthy speech. Similarly, Weiss notes, “My personal approach is to refrain from telling people that there is a diet for all problems. Instead, I say that I hope we can all aspire to conducting rigorous and well-controlled clinical studies to help inform our future guidelines. “
Of course, maintaining your immunity, whether you get the vaccine or not, is still crucial. Ultimately, it relates to health and nutrition, as poor metabolic health is a major factor for a number of chronic conditions that, as we sadly know all too well from COVID, can ultimately emerge as a pressing threat. . “The single biggest influence on whether you develop a serious chronic illness or die prematurely is the quality of your diet,” Katz once told us about COVID and nutrition. All that to say, immune strength is driven by metabolic health. Being front and center right now, immune resilience should always be front of mind.
