The risk of arguing over the issue this year is more concrete than ever: the arguments for tackling the issue with data in hand
The set table and the dishes are ready. Christmas, time to renew (with due precautions) the traditional ritual of family dinners and lunches. Opportunities for recreation and conversation, but the topic – more topical than ever – of the anti Covid-19 vaccines threatens to spoil even the best convivial atmospheres. What to answer then to parenti no vax that, between one course and the next, they should be perplexed about the importance of immunizations? Here are ten ready-to-use answers.
Covid vaccines are not effective
False. On the contrary, even against the Delta variant – still dominant in Italy – two doses of mRna vaccine such as Pfizer and Moderna have proved effective in preventing infections with percentages higher than 85%. On the other hand, protection against serious illness amounts to over 90%. And the third booster dose does nothing but bring the defenses back to such, very high levels. For this reason today, despite a higher number of positives than last year (when a less contagious variant was circulating and a real rainbow of restrictions were in place), the data on hospitalizations are far less worrying. Therefore, it should not be surprising what the Bruno Kessler Foundation said last month, according to which vaccines in 2021 practically canceled the negative effect on infections due to the spread of the Delta variant in Italy and, in equal cases, avoided 12,000 deaths in Italy. pi.
But now the new Omicron variant gallops
The substance does not change: vaccines remain an irreplaceable weapon. in fact, it has already been shown that the third dose prevents infection from the mutation up to 80%. There is also encouraging news on the hospitalization front: Omicron causes less. Scientists are working to understand if it is really less aggressive than Delta, but highly likely that the lower risk of hospitalization is due, at least in part, to the immunity acquired by the vaccinated population. In any case, manufacturers are already considering the development of preparations to this
.
It is precisely the vaccines that favor the emergence of new variants
the opposite: the probability that new variants are formed is directly proportional to the circulation of the virus. The more people get sick, the greater the risk of mutations developing in some of them. Matteo Bassetti, director of the infectious diseases department of San Martino di Genova also confirmed this: Variants arise when people are not vaccinated and the virus moves freely: see the Delta in India where the population was not immunized, as well as the Mu.
And how do we deal with the side effects?
According to the AIFA reports, they occur about 500 times every 100 thousand doses administered, ie after just 0.5% of the injections. In addition, in the vast majority of cases these are minor phenomena such as headache, muscle aches or a slight fever. Serious reactions, such as high fever, intense headaches and generalized pains, in fact, have been reported in Italy only 16 times out of 100 thousand doses, therefore with a negligible incidence of 0.016%. A figure in line with those of other European countries.
We don’t know what will happen in the long run
The history of vaccinology teaches that all vaccines, due to their mechanisms of action, can give side effects only in the short term (99% of cases), never in the long term, reassured Andrea Gori, director of the infectious diseases department of the Polyclinic. from Milan. Along the same lines Anthony Fauci, chief of medical advisors at the White House and director of the National Institute for Infectious Diseases in the United States, who said in September: The chance of having a long-term adverse event is almost zero. And I say “almost zero” only because nothing has absolute zero probability in biology. But I feel very strongly against the idea that there may be an adverse event two or three years after administration.
MRna vaccines modify the genetic code
In this case, the Istituto Superiore di Sanit thought about dismantling the fake news at the end of 2020: The task of mRNA – we read in the Faq – is only to transport the instructions for the production of proteins from one part to the other of the cell, for this reason it is called “messenger”. In this case, the RNA carries the instructions for making the protein used by the virus to attach itself to cells, the protein called Spike. Thanks to vaccination, the organism produces specific antibodies before coming into contact with the virus and immunizes itself against it.
Vaccines are experimental preparations, they do not have adequate scientific research behind them
This is also false: the studies that have shown the effectiveness of vaccines have been, on the contrary, among the most extensive ever. There was no problem in enrolling patients, it was easy to do the experimentation in a population very exposed to the virus, said the microbiologist and former director of EMA Guido Rasi. The aforementioned Andrea Gori on the subject explained, for example, that the recruitment of one of the vaccines also used in Italy, Pfizer-BioNTech, involved 44,000 volunteers in one of the largest studies in the history of drugs. Enlistment took place in 15 days when usually a year is not enough to find 2,000 people. Also for this reason, no stage has been skipped: before reaching the market, each vaccine has completed all three experimental phases required by the EMA. In addition, over 8.8 billion doses have been administered so far in the world, so in the opinion of Rasi himself to speak of an experimental phase is ridiculous.
However, I am young and healthy, so I don’t need the vaccine
it is undeniable that Covid-19 has a more severe impact on elderly and / or sick people, but zero risk does not exist for any age group. N with regard to deaths and hospitalizations n in relation to any after-effects of the disease. especially the case of long Covid, a chronic syndrome that is estimated to cause in about one out of ten symptoms such as cognitive fog, vascular, heart, respiratory, neurological, kidney, dermatological problems, anxiety, depression, fatigue and more. But getting immunized does not only serve to protect oneself: an act of altruism and sensitivity towards the most fragile categories, which also include those who, in spite of themselves, cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons.
Vaccinating children unsafe
Not true. In fact, in giving the green light to immunizations for the age group 5-11 (with Pfizer at a reduced dose), Aifa stated that there are currently no warning signs in terms of safety or serious adverse effects related to the vaccine. In particular, the risk of myocarditis, as Chiara Azzari (Meyer Florence hospital) and Mauro Cinquetti (Ausl 9 Scaligera) wrote, proved to be very low: one case in a million vaccinated. And inflammation in a mild form and at most requires one or two days of precautionary hospitalization. That’s why Bruno Dallapiccola, scientific director of Bambino Gesu, said he couldn’t find a single reason against vaccination at this age.
also risky to get vaccinated during pregnancy
Also in this case the above is valid: vaccines remain safe and effective. Indeed, if anything, immunizing while pregnant is doubly important because, as illustrated by the Ordinary of Neonatology at the Universit Paris Saclay Daniele De Luca, the vaccine extremely significantly reduces the risk of developing Covid-19 thus also protecting the child from the risk. of prematurity and early abortion. Contraindications? None, not even for the fetus: The data accumulated first in animal experiments, then in randomized clinical trials and finally the clinical data accumulated in “real life” after millions of doses administered even in pregnant women clearly demonstrate that there is no real contraindication.
December 24, 2021 (change December 24, 2021 | 20:26)
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