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COVID question I've been getting: Why do I need a vaccine when there's a 99.7% survival rate? It's a fair point (and makes for a lively discussion!).
Here is my response: 1/
Here is my response: 1/
Survival is an important metric, but it's the wrong one to focus on. Coronavirus is different than anything we have seen before. It causes strokes, it inflames blood vessels. It alters your sense of smell because it gets into your brain. It causes oxygen levels to plunge and.. 2/
you might not even feel it. It causes symptoms that last for months and we don't know why. When someone contracts the virus, I'm not just worried about survival. 3/
The other thing that hasn't gotten any attention: #coronavirus can trick your body into making antibodies against one of the immune system's most powerful signaling molecules: interferon. This brilliant sleight of hand may explain why some people get...4/ https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6515/eabd4585
severe disease (and why it tends to be older men). If I had to choose between natural immunity or immunity through vaccination, I'd choose the latter.
Focusing on survival rate dismisses everything we know about the virus. 5/
Focusing on survival rate dismisses everything we know about the virus. 5/
Takeaway: If you get COVID, you'll probably survive. But your life could be fundamentally altered. This is why a vaccine that prevents symptomatic disease fills us with such hope.
