OP-ED: The New Vaccine, Will It Save Our Country?

OP-ED%3A+The+New+Vaccine%2C+Will+It+Save+Our+Country%3F

Avery Smallidge

Studies say that there will be a new Coronavirus vaccine that should be ready by the end of November. This discovery is safe and effective but can affect people with certain health problems. I don’t think that the vaccine will be ready by the end of November, because it has special developments that it has to undergo. There are five phases that the vaccine needs to pass to be sent out and used on people.

Phase zero includes the trials where a very small dose is given to ten to fifteen people. Immunization is observed in how it affects their bodies and immune systems. Scientists and doctors aim to get phase zero done quickly. Phase one is used to find the best drug with the fewest side effects. It’s then given to 15 to 30 people in very low doses as well. Higher doses are given to some people until side effects become too harsh. Phase one trials are used to test the drugs’ safeness rather than effectiveness. If safe enough, scientists can move on to phase two. The second phase evaluates its safety as well as its effectiveness. In this phase, it is commonly used on patients with a certain type of cancer. These phase trials are done on larger amounts of people and often, experimentation happens. I don’t think that testing the vaccine on only a certain type of cancer is fair because they are only focusing on one type of sickness other than the rest. If the experimentation drug is found more effective, it is moved onto phase three. However, it is never directly compared to the standard drug usually used.

Phase three compares the new experimentation drug with the regularly used drug. This trial assesses the side effects of both drugs, that way, scientists can see which one works better. Drugs are typically given to over 100 people in this step. Patients are put into randomized treatment groups, also known as trial arms. The random groups help scientists determine that the results are due to the treatment, and not differences within the groups. There are typically more than two trial arm groups. One getting the standard care and the other getting a new treatment.

Patients are unable to choose their group and aren’t notified which one they’re put into until after the trials are completed. The last phase is when the vaccine is approved by the FDA.

2021 presidential candidate elect, Joe Biden is very concerned with the coronavirus. He wants to force vaccinate all the people so that this virus can go away as soon as possible. The vaccine currently released is said to be close to 95% effective. However, people with heart problems are unable to administer the vaccine due to it badly affecting the current problems they have even more. It is also said to interfere with beta-blockers, which is a common type of heart medicine used daily for multiple problems due to their heart issues. This means that if vaccines are forced out into people, certain people will not be able to live their everyday lives due to a condition that they have no control over, and can’t fix. I don’t think that vaccines should be passed out forcefully when it is unsafe for these people with heart concerns.

Hopefully, this vaccine can put a stop to how quickly the virus is spreading. It is said to be safe, but the media is questioning the reliability of the vaccine. I don’t think that force vaccinating is the right thing to do just yet. There needs to be more information put out before it is used on desperate liberals, just because they want a stop to the Covid-19, even if it is unsafe.