Vaccines brought relief

In late 2020, the first COVID-19 vaccines were approved for use in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 23, 2020, Jefferson County Health Department received its first allotment on Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. We were overjoyed. There was cheering and singing and a few tears of relief. Those hundred doses of vaccine felt like hope. 

They felt like hope because up until then our only defense against a virus that had changed the course of our daily lives were non-pharmaceutical interventions. Hand washing, social distancing, staying home when ill and masking. During my nursing career, I have witnessed vaccines reduce the threat of multiple infectious diseases. A vaccine gave us another tool. A tool that could change the course of a disease.

I believe in the science and the history of vaccines.  Vaccination has been part of disease intervention for over 200 years. Smallpox has been eradicated and many other illnesses have almost been forgotten due to childhood vaccination campaigns. People can develop immunity to diseases in different ways. Sharing antibodies, such as from mother to child, can produce short-term passive immunity. Having an illness can develop life-long immunity for some diseases. Vaccination is another way to create active immunity. Vaccines work with our body’s natural defenses to fight disease.