Vaccines Don't Save People...Vaccines In Arms Do.

AllTheirDisinformationDoesNotNeedToBe
UsVille


Nature Immunology Reviews recently published an excellent paper for non-experts like you and me titled, 'A guide to vaccinology: from basic principles to new developments' by Andrew Pollard and Else Bijker of Oxford.

This is the first paragraph of the Introduction:

Vaccines have transformed public health, particularly since national programmes for immunization first became properly established and coordinated in the 1960s. In countries with high vaccine programme coverage, many of the diseases that were previously responsible for the majority of childhood deaths have essentially disappeared (Fig. 1). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2–3 million lives are saved each year by current immunization programmes, contributing to the marked reduction in mortality of children less than 5 years of age globally from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 39 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018...


And while the entire thing is worth a read (it won't make your head hurt, promise), Figure 1 is, esssentially, the kicker:

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Of course, once you've built and clinically tested a specific vaccine, the key is uptake.

So.

In a world of disinformation, how are things going so far in the U.K.?

Nicola Davis has the latest on that in the the Guardian. Here is her lede:

Uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine has been high among those offered it, doctors say, despite fears that vaccine hesitancy could undermine efforts to control the pandemic.

Experts have feared mass uptake of the jab could be jeopardised by widespread misinformation, concerns among the public about the speed at which the vaccine has been developed and approved, and lack of trust in vaccines and the pharmaceutical companies and governments calling for it...

Will this trend hold in North America?

We shall see - especially given that, as reported by David Carrig today in the Vancouver Sun:

...Vaccines are expected to be widely available in B.C. in the second quarter of 2021...


OK?

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