Alfred Dawes | Vaccines – every man for himself

The Delta strain is here and with it went the last hopes of achieving herd immunity through mass vaccination programmes. However, there is still talk about vaccinating to protect you and your loved ones. Companies are still considering mandatory vaccination policies in order to ‘protect’ clients and other staff members who may not be candidates for vaccination. That thinking is so 2020. You cannot get herd immunity from Delta using the current crop of vaccines. What is more, you may even be at greater risk of getting COVID-19 from a vaccinated individual than the unvaxxed.

In this binary world, to say anything against the narrative that vaccines are the only way out of this pandemic is to be labelled an antivaxxer. Characters and careers have been destroyed for going against the packaged belief systems handed down from the gods of the pandemic response. Even when new data emerges, there is an inexplicable reticence to adjust the message to the public.

There is no greater example than the use of masks. The powers that be determined that in order to incentivise vaccines there would be relaxation of protocols for the fully vaccinated, including dropping mask wearing. It took several lives lost from vaccinated persons spreading the virus for the authorities to reverse their position. Still, the message is get vaccinated to protect you and those around you in the herd. This not true.

The load of Delta virus particles produced by coughing, and even talking, is over 1,000 times that of the original SARS-Cov-2 virus. Let that sink in. Imagine moving from a 1,000 invisible enemies to a million. What are your chances of success when you had prepared for even a 100,000? This is why the Delta virus is so much more transmissible. Walking past someone, both fully masked, can get you infected. Contact tracing is a thing of the past.

The concept of herd immunity relies on the ability of those with antibodies to fight off an infection so the virus comes in contact with less and less people it can use as spreaders of its progeny. Depending on how infectious is the virus, once a certain percentage of the population has antibodies through infection or vaccination, they act as barriers to the virus infecting the vulnerable. An infected person comes across potential hosts, but the majority have immunity, so it is spread to less and less hosts until it dies out.

DANGER OF LETTING GUARD DOWN

Unfortunately, with the Delta virus, the vaccinated do get infected so they are able hosts to spread the virus to everyone else in the herd. As they have some immunity to the virus, the infection will most likely be mild or asymptomatic. Herein lies the danger with letting your guard down around the vaccinated. If you are unvaxxed you are more likely to show warning signs of infection such as flu-like symptoms. You are more likely to self-isolate and get tested. I for one get nervous when I am around someone with the sniffles, so I move away. For the vaccinated, they will most likely show no signs that they are infected and are healthy enough to become superspreaders.

So why get vaccinated if you can contract and spread the virus? For purely selfish reasons of self-preservation. Getting the vaccine decreases your chances of hospitalisation and death. There is a lot of talk about the numbers of vaccinated persons getting sick, but the percentage is far lower than for the unvaxxed. It is the unvaxxed who are suffering in hospital corridors and gasping for air in regret. If moral suasion is to be used to convince persons to take the jab, it must be on the basis that they do not want to contribute to the overburdening of the health sector with their sickness and deaths.

It is time to end the pointless debates with antivaxxers. They are putting themselves at risk, not the herd. Forcing staff, clients and friends to get vaccinated is protecting nobody but themselves. When they end up in hospitals it will be because of the bed they spread. My heart bleeds only for those with other conditions who suffer because they cannot access medical care.

BEYOND VACCINE TAKE-UP

With hospitals overrun and no end in sight, we have to look beyond just increased vaccine take-up to flatten the hospitalisation curve. Some persons will simply not be reached. Outpatient care for COVID-19 must be prioritised. Whatever therapies that are available locally must be used immediately to decrease the chances of hospitalisation. The time for egos and debates has passed. Conflicting studies on safe treatments should not be used to dissuade their use. We are in a crisis the likes of which we have never seen and may never again live through.

It is all hands on deck and every man for himself. Get vaccinated to protect yourself and only you. Limit exposure to vaccinated and unvaccinated persons. Nowhere is safe. Trust no one. We are at the point we have been dreading and preparing for. Our defences have been breached by a viral blitz. We can debate how we got to this situation later, but for now protect yourself.

The irony of this selfish self-preservation is that if enough persons practise it then the sum total will be the great nationalist effort that we need to beat this virus. In that case, the message should be: save yourselves, to save us all.

Dr Alfred Dawes is a general, laparoscopic, and weight-loss surgeon; fellow of the American College of Surgeons; Follow him on Twitter @dr_aldawes. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and adawes@ilapmedical.com.