I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
Why I Chose to Be Vaccinated
[Jesus] said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Matthew 22:37-39 (NRSV)
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
James 2:8 (NRSV)
Matthew 22:37-39 (NRSV)
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
James 2:8 (NRSV)
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in endless praise
From "Take My Life, and Let It Be"
by Frances Ridley Havergal
Consecrated, Lord, to thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in endless praise
From "Take My Life, and Let It Be"
by Frances Ridley Havergal
Recently there has been a surge in COVID-19 cases in the United States, and, though a vaccine has been available to most Americans for a number of months, many have been hesitant to be vaccinated. For these reasons, I have decided to share my story of being vaccinated and my motivations for doing so. I'm hoping that, if you, dear reader, are hesitant to be vaccinated against COVID-19, you might find my experience and my thoughts on the matter helpful.
I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine in mid March. At that time, vaccination appointments were scarce, so people were clamoring for whatever was available. I ended up driving for forty minutes to a pharmacy thirty miles away from my home. I had to wait four weeks before I could receive my second dose, and a lot changed in those four weeks. I received my second dose in mid April. A vaccination clinic was held at my place of employment, so luckily I was spared another forty-minute drive. I knew that some people experienced flu-like symptoms after receiving their second dose, so I informed my supervisor that I might be calling in sick the next day.
I received my second dose on a Tuesday. I started feeling a bit poorly that evening, but, on Wednesday morning, I woke up with a fever, a headache, and some body aches. I had expected such symptoms, and I took them as a sign that the vaccine was doing what it was designed to do and that my immune system was reacting to it as it was supposed to react. I felt terrible, but I considered my symptoms a small price to pay for the protection the vaccine would give me. On Thursday, I woke up with a headache. As the morning went on, I started to feel better, so I reported to work just before noon.
At the end of April, two weeks after I received my second dose, I was considered fully vaccinated. Three months have passed since then, and I an happy to report that, after experiencing the aforementioned flu-like symptoms when I received the second dose, I have experienced no adverse reactions to the vaccine.
As I've noted previously, my singular New Year's resolution for 2021 was to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as the opportunity presented itself to me. I wanted to do what I could to minimize my chances of contracting the virus and spreading it to other people, and, at the same time, after spending a year in "lockdown mode," I wanted to be able to safely live my life as I lived it before the pandemic. I also wanted to do my small part to bring about an end to this damned pandemic so that all of us may be able to safely carry on with our lives.
I want you to know, dear reader, that I did not choose to be vaccinated because someone told me to do so or because I wanted to follow the crowd. If you really know me, then you know that I don't particularly like being told what to do and that I am not one to follow crowds. I chose to be vaccinated because I wanted to be vaccinated.
When I was a teenager, my mother subjected me to influenza vaccinations every year. As I've already noted, I hate being told what to do, so, at some point after I became an adult, I chose to stop being vaccinated. Everything was fine, until I started contracting the flu. It could be said that I started 2013 with the flu and ended 2013 with the flu. I found the disease to be not only painful but also disruptive. When I contracted the flu at the end of 2012, I was unable to attend a New Year's Eve party with my friends. I contracted the flu a second time the following December. Though I recovered before Christmas, I had passed the flu along to my mother's boyfriend, who also wasn't vaccinated, and, as a result, he was unable to spend Christmas with his loved ones.
I did not want to contract the flu a third time, so, in late 2014, I started receiving regular influenza vaccinations once again. I have not contracted the flu since then, so I have become a believer in vaccines. COVID-19 has proven itself to be a much more dangerous disease than the flu, so why would I not want to avail myself of a vaccine against it?
Though the COVID-19 vaccine is indeed new, the science behind vaccinations has been around for over two hundred years. I learned in high school that the first vaccine, which protected people from the deadly and highly contagious disease smallpox, was developed in the late eighteenth century, after Edward Jenner realized that milkmaids who had recovered from the less dangerous disease cowpox seemed to be immune to smallpox.1 Since then, vaccines have been used to eradicate smallpox and to make other infectious diseases a lot more rare.
Some people seem to think that receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is somehow at odds with their Christian faith. As a man of faith, I would like to address such concerns.
Some people seem to think that, if they choose to be vaccinated against COVID-19, then they are not trusting in God to protect them. Personally, I believe that one can trust in God and also choose to be vaccinated. The first message sent over the first long-distance telegraph line was a quote from the Bible: "What hath God wrought!"2 Samuel Morse, the sender of this message, effectively gave God the glory for the invention of a new means of communication.3 The telegraph paved the way for other forms of communication, which many people consider blessings. A person can be vaccinated against COVID-19 and give God the glory for the development of the vaccine. God imparts different gifts to different people, and these gifts include the gifts of knowledge and healing that enabled the development of vaccines.
Some people seem to think that, because God gave them an immune system, they do not need a vaccination. The truth is that vaccines work hand-in-hand with a person's God-given immune system; in fact, they would be useless without it. When people are vaccinated, benign material from a virus is introduced into their bodies. Their immune systems detect it and begin producing antibodies. If the real virus enters their bodies, the antibodies are already there to fight it.4 A vaccine can be compared to intel the military receives about a threat before the enemy has an opportunity to attack.
Some people seem to think that the vaccine might be the Mark of the Beast described in the Book of Revelation. Though people disagree about what the mark is, it is evidently a mark of allegiance to a power other than Jesus Christ.5 If being vaccinated against COVID-19 shows allegiance to anyone, it shows allegiance to Jesus, because He calls us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus says that this is the second greatest commandment, and St. James says that this is the Royal Law, because it is taught to us by our Lord and King. By taking measures to minimize our chances of contracting a deadly and infectious disease, we also minimize our chances of spreading it to other people. By protecting ourselves, we do our part to protect our neighbors.
I believe that the vaccines against COVID-19 are our best hope for bringing about the end of this seemingly unending pandemic. I cannot make choices for other people, but I can speak of my own choices, tell my story, and share my motivations. If you, dear reader, have been hesitant to be vaccinated against COVID-19, I hope that reading my vaccination stories and my thoughts on the matter have helped to set your mind at ease.
Notes:
I want you to know, dear reader, that I did not choose to be vaccinated because someone told me to do so or because I wanted to follow the crowd. If you really know me, then you know that I don't particularly like being told what to do and that I am not one to follow crowds. I chose to be vaccinated because I wanted to be vaccinated.
When I was a teenager, my mother subjected me to influenza vaccinations every year. As I've already noted, I hate being told what to do, so, at some point after I became an adult, I chose to stop being vaccinated. Everything was fine, until I started contracting the flu. It could be said that I started 2013 with the flu and ended 2013 with the flu. I found the disease to be not only painful but also disruptive. When I contracted the flu at the end of 2012, I was unable to attend a New Year's Eve party with my friends. I contracted the flu a second time the following December. Though I recovered before Christmas, I had passed the flu along to my mother's boyfriend, who also wasn't vaccinated, and, as a result, he was unable to spend Christmas with his loved ones.
I did not want to contract the flu a third time, so, in late 2014, I started receiving regular influenza vaccinations once again. I have not contracted the flu since then, so I have become a believer in vaccines. COVID-19 has proven itself to be a much more dangerous disease than the flu, so why would I not want to avail myself of a vaccine against it?
Though the COVID-19 vaccine is indeed new, the science behind vaccinations has been around for over two hundred years. I learned in high school that the first vaccine, which protected people from the deadly and highly contagious disease smallpox, was developed in the late eighteenth century, after Edward Jenner realized that milkmaids who had recovered from the less dangerous disease cowpox seemed to be immune to smallpox.1 Since then, vaccines have been used to eradicate smallpox and to make other infectious diseases a lot more rare.
Some people seem to think that receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is somehow at odds with their Christian faith. As a man of faith, I would like to address such concerns.
Some people seem to think that, if they choose to be vaccinated against COVID-19, then they are not trusting in God to protect them. Personally, I believe that one can trust in God and also choose to be vaccinated. The first message sent over the first long-distance telegraph line was a quote from the Bible: "What hath God wrought!"2 Samuel Morse, the sender of this message, effectively gave God the glory for the invention of a new means of communication.3 The telegraph paved the way for other forms of communication, which many people consider blessings. A person can be vaccinated against COVID-19 and give God the glory for the development of the vaccine. God imparts different gifts to different people, and these gifts include the gifts of knowledge and healing that enabled the development of vaccines.
Some people seem to think that, because God gave them an immune system, they do not need a vaccination. The truth is that vaccines work hand-in-hand with a person's God-given immune system; in fact, they would be useless without it. When people are vaccinated, benign material from a virus is introduced into their bodies. Their immune systems detect it and begin producing antibodies. If the real virus enters their bodies, the antibodies are already there to fight it.4 A vaccine can be compared to intel the military receives about a threat before the enemy has an opportunity to attack.
Some people seem to think that the vaccine might be the Mark of the Beast described in the Book of Revelation. Though people disagree about what the mark is, it is evidently a mark of allegiance to a power other than Jesus Christ.5 If being vaccinated against COVID-19 shows allegiance to anyone, it shows allegiance to Jesus, because He calls us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus says that this is the second greatest commandment, and St. James says that this is the Royal Law, because it is taught to us by our Lord and King. By taking measures to minimize our chances of contracting a deadly and infectious disease, we also minimize our chances of spreading it to other people. By protecting ourselves, we do our part to protect our neighbors.
I believe that the vaccines against COVID-19 are our best hope for bringing about the end of this seemingly unending pandemic. I cannot make choices for other people, but I can speak of my own choices, tell my story, and share my motivations. If you, dear reader, have been hesitant to be vaccinated against COVID-19, I hope that reading my vaccination stories and my thoughts on the matter have helped to set your mind at ease.
Notes:
- Wikipedia: "Vaccine"
- Numbers 23:23 (KJV)
- Wikipedia: "Baltimore-Washington Telegraph Line"
- Wikipedia: "Vaccine"
- Revelation 13:11-18
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