Dear Editor,
I read with interest the letter from the professors at Faro university in last week’s edition and agree with some of what they say. I also read the article on this newspaper’s website quoting a journalist from Expresso newspaper who, although vaccinated himself, refuses to have his young children vaccinated, and I agree with him.
But what I do not agree with is adults who, either for ideological reasons or simply due to fear of something unknown, are still refusing the vaccine.
The professors in the aforementioned letter say that the vaccines are ineffective, and this is simply not true. The facts show that hospitalisation rates and deaths as a percentage of infections are now a fraction of what they were when infections last peaked before the vaccines were available.
It is proven beyond doubt that the vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of an infected person becoming seriously ill.
I have so far managed to avoid infection myself, but I have lost count of the number of friends who have caught Covid. Nearly all of those who caught it before being vaccinated became seriously ill, some ending up in hospital, one sadly dying.
But not one of my friends who caught it after being vaccinated became ill enough to even think about going to hospital. Most just had a couple of days of bad cold symptoms.
When the vaccine became available to me, I weighed up the odds. Yes, of course there was a risk, but then I take a risk every time I drive my car.
Having seen the economy decimated by the virus, my main concern was, and still is, to get life back to normal and by getting vaccinated, I felt that I was doing my bit.
But as for vaccinating kids, I agree with the journalist from Expresso. My own kids are all grown up but if I had young kids, even teenagers, I would not want them vaccinated. It is now pretty much proven that the vaccines are well tolerated by most adults, but to try it out on youngsters makes no sense to me. After all, very few kids suffer serious symptoms from the virus and the vaccination will not stop them from catching it or spreading it, so what is to be gained?
But when it comes to adults who are refusing the vaccine, as I see it, they are holding up the recovery of the economy. If they get infected, chances are they will become seriously ill and this puts more strain on the health services.
Perhaps it is time they take a long hard look at the facts; maybe they can look at those of us who took the vaccine already as guinea pigs. None of us have turned green or grown tails, and there is no doubt that we have a level of protection that they don’t.
B. Perkins
By email
