To Jab Or Not To Jab… That Is The Question!

 

Dear Readers,

Over the past week, it’s not just the cold winds blowing in from North India that have brought chills to the city. It’s also the uncertainty surrounding the ‘Big Jab’ – the Covid vaccination which will protect us against the deadly coronavirus… the big relief we had all been waiting for with bated breath, for nearly a year now…

Well, it’s here alright, and that’s great news! And we are extremely grateful and relieved to finally have access to this protection against the pandemic. Even so, the steady news and information trickling into our inboxes and WhatsApp/messenger forwards about the not-so-great side effects taking place the world over and in India, makes us ponder the inescapable quandary – to jab or not to jab!

What makes it confusing is that the sceptics are as confident and convincing about its cons, as are the believers who swear by its pros! It gets even more perplexing when advocates from either side pose their contradicting convictions with ample scientific reasoning and resonance. While the side-effects of the Pfizer, Sputnik and Moderna vaccinations give us the jitters, our very own home-grown, Covishield produced by SII in affiliation with Astra Zeneca, has also had its share of not-very-encouraging after-effects. As proud as our Poonawalas make us, their ‘Prickly Pair Vaccine’ (since we are given two jabs) doesn’t incite some to dare!

Even as most medical professionals staunchly advocate vaccination, latest news reports about vaccine hesitancy have been surfacing globally and in India, with health-care and frontline workers holding back due to safety concerns over selective and incomplete Phase III trials.

So, should we go ahead and literally ‘take a jab’, or refrain for now and adopt the ‘wait and watch’ approach till our apprehensions get cleared?

Definitely something to ponder over the weekend!

Have a good one anyways!

 

– Anahita