Welcome to the latest and STEMcognito Coronavirus information series. My name is Charlotte Webber and I’m a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. In this video, we wanted to address a question which people are asking more and more frequently as vaccines are becoming available worldwide. The question is, if I’m not a high risk of catching or suffering from Coronavirus, why would I receive the vaccine. Many people are skeptical about the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, especially if they believe they are not at risk of becoming seriously ill if they catch the virus. Unfortunately, social and mainstream media keep contributing to this belief that receiving the vaccine may have negative effects on people. In this short video, I’ll address some of the reasons why receiving the vaccine is important for everyone regardless of their health status. So let’s start with what we know about Coronavirus vaccines already. We know that receiving the vaccine reduces the likelihood that you’ll get COVID-19 and that if you do contract the virus you are less likely to get seriously ill. We also know that it takes around two weeks for the body to build up immunity against the virus. For this you’ll need the full vaccination which is usually two doses. This may vary slightly based on which vaccine they give you but two weeks is the generally accepted standard by national public health organizations. So who should get vaccinated? The short answer is everybody. There is currently no research that suggests that any group should not get the vaccine, except those who might have had an extremely rare allergic reaction to it. According to the CDC, the likelihood of allergic reaction is approximately 11 out of 1 million. So it’s really really rare. Roll up programs started to vaccinate those who are most at risk of getting the virus such as frontline and healthcare workers, and also those who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill should they get the virus, for example, older adults and people with other health conditions. But the aim is for everyone in the population to be vaccinated eventually. Different versions of the vaccine may be recommended for different groups, for example, Pfizer, or Moderna for people who are pregnant. But this is due to the fact that they’ve been used more extensively in pregnancy than other versions. If you’re not a frontline worker, or in an at risk group, you might feel that it’s not that important to get the vaccine to protect yourself against the virus. However, it’s important to remember that there’s no way of knowing how the virus might affect you. COVID-19 can have serious life threatening complications, even if you’re not in an at risk group. And even if you think you are healthy and have a good immune system. Also, receiving the vaccine doesn’t just protect you, it also protects the people around you. If you’re less likely to catch the virus, you’re less likely to spread it to others who may be vulnerable. Yes, when we catch the virus and recover from it, our body builds up immunity to the virus. And it seems that this will protect you from the virus in the future, at least for a little while. But still, you might get very serious symptoms and suffer from the disease for a while. So when you receive the vaccine, you for sure won’t have any of these long term symptoms and you’ll still be build up the immunity. Finally, the idea is that a successful vaccine rollout within the population will reduce the need to practice social distancing and self isolation measures. After all, if people are immune to the virus being in contact with others poses are less of a risk to them and to us. There is a risk of side effects with the vaccine. This is something that media often tend to over report on. And you can get worried about the safety of the vaccine because of this. But it’s important to note that every COVID-19 vaccines still has to go through all the clinical trials and safety checks that all other licensed medicines go through. These checks are incredibly strict, and vaccines are only approved if they are safe and effective. As with many vaccines and other medicines, some minor side effects are normal and expected. It’s common that the vaccination site will feel a bit sore or you’ll feel tired or a little unwell after you were vaccinated. This means that your body is actively working to make sense of the new vaccine. It means your immune system is building an army against the virus and building these fighters costs a bit of energy, so it might tie you out a bit. So there’s no need to be concerned about the side effects. They’re actually usually a good sign. You might have heard that some people have had some rare cases of blood clotting after they got the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. But among more than 20 people 20 million people have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK so far, only 79 cases of rare blood clots have been reported. So for people aged 30 or over and those with other health conditions, the benefits of being vaccinated outright outweigh the risk of clotting problems. On the contrary, people under 30 are less likely to suffer severely from Coronavirus. So the relative risk of blood clotting from the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine means that other varieties are recommended. Of course, we’re still learning about the vaccines and their safety. It’s true that we don’t know yet how effective the vaccines will be against new variants of the virus or how long you’ll be protected for. There’s still some speculation about how many people need to be vaccinated for the whole population to be considered protected as well. But you can rest assured that researchers are constantly reviewing and observing how effective and safe the vaccines are. For example, we’re still learning how well the vaccine might protect you from spreading the virus if you do catch it after you’ve been vaccinated. Currently, they suggest that receiving the vaccine is important for safeguarding your own health and the health of others. Researchers and politicians agree that any potential risks associated with vaccination are smaller than the benefits that we gain from it. So please, if you’re healthy and have the time and capacity to go and get the vaccine, do so to protect yourself and everyone else. Thank you for watching with STEMcognito. Find more videos using the search box or the drop down menus above. If you think there’s something wrong with this video, please use the Report button to inform the STEMcognito team. Questions about the video content should be directed to the researcher. You can find their details below. 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