Op-Ed

Take an active role against Covid by getting inoculated

Posted

There has been a fixation on comparison throughout the coronavirus pandemic. First came the comparison of cases, the seismic shock of northern Italian coronavirus news that woke up the world to the severity of the virus. Inevitably came the comparison of death rates, from China to the United Kingdom to the U.S. and, slowly, everywhere in between. As we have watched countless graphs of data ebb and flow over the past 16 months, only one measure has shed light on a potential end: vaccination rates.

Having experienced the entirety of the pandemic as a college student at Georgetown University, I have been surrounded by variations on the question, “When will this end?” I have not had an in-person class since early March 2020, when my peers and I all assumed that Covid could not possibly last longer than a few weeks. How naive we all were.

Naivety aside, however, I soon began to acclimatize to the world of virtual education in a different time zone, in my hometown of London. Amid the “Zoom fatigue,” shaky Wi-Fi and the irony of feeling detached from friends but claustrophobic with family, reminding myself that all these would hopefully bring this bizarre way of life to an end seemed like a good enough incentive. Cue the coronavirus vaccine.

I first heard of the inoculations early this spring. Finally, thoughts of socializing with my friends on campus, meeting my professors to continue conversations outside lecture halls and being late to class because I had to run down a hallway, not because my Wi-Fi was intermittent, began to piece together as a realistic future. Six months after the vaccine rollout worldwide, however, this phase of the pandemic has caused, as much as quelled, a general feeling of anxiety. Hesitancy about the vaccine has perhaps provided a more interesting point of comparison than numbers and charts. It is certainly a topic that has produced an unprecedented emotional response on both ends of the spectrum.

While I can only speak from the experience of being predominantly surrounded by American and British college-age students, the viewpoints I have heard on the vaccine very quickly offer insightful indicators of people’s political and cultural standpoints. Nonetheless, they present something deeper, and more interesting, than a political affiliation: whether individuals believe their singular actions can help reduce the global devastation of the virus. Moreover, they have highlighted for me where my generation perceives it stands among all this mess.

Like many of my contemporaries at Georgetown, I was eager to get the shots. While I was double-vaccinated by late May, life remained fairly similar for the vaccinated and unvaccinated in the Washington area during the early vaccine rollout. But it became clear that there were tangible benefits for vaccinated people early this summer. From less social distancing to optional mask wearing, it allowed experiences that resembled a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy.

On the other side of the pond, the U.K. saw a hasty vaccine rollout in late winter that eclipsed any American efforts. Unfortunately, this initial success has crumbled amid our confusing “traffic light” travel rules, spiraling virus cases and declining trust in the government’s handling of the situation as we edge into a possible fourth wave. While the root of these issues can be pinned on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s reluctance to ban travel from places where the Delta variant originated until it was deemed too late, there is something to be said about the link between vaccine rates and incentives.

Unlike the U.S., the U.K. did not employ an incentive scheme for vaccines. This promoted the realistic message that a vaccine wasn’t a quick fix to the complexity of the pandemic, but provided an important step in a return to normalcy. However, I have seen an unprecedented and surprising hesitancy toward the vaccine among younger people over the summer in the U.K. “I won’t get that sick, I don’t need it,” “It’s too much of an effort” and “It’s too new to trust” are some of the sentiments I’ve heard repeatedly. While I sympathize with these concerns, the general lack of motivation is disturbing.

Vaccine hesitancy is a direct comparison that can be made across generations, political affiliations and nationalities. However, almost everyone offered the vaccine has also had to question whether they want to take accountability for the trajectory of the virus. Undoubtedly, the short-term consequences and potential side effects must not be underestimated. But this stage of the pandemic also presents a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: become a key stakeholder in the global fight against the coronavirus by being vaccinated.

Jemima Denham is an intern at the Heralds this summer, working remotely from her home in London.