(Julian Daniel, Sunday Willett/ The Conversation) — Vaccines are the holy grails of disease prevention. These medical marvels confer significant protection against diseases — whether a childhood infection, annual influenza or a novel coronavirus — that can easily cause undue suffering.
The polio vaccine prevents polio, a highly contagious viral childhood illness that causes nerve damage and can lead to paralysis and a permanent inability to breathe. The chickenpox vaccine prevents the itchy rash in children and its potential reappearance in adults as shingles, given that the chickenpox virus stays with people after the infection and can reactivate later in life.
The COVID-19 vaccine prevents serious illness, hospitalization and death due to a virus that has killed millions and caused prolonged suffering in millions more. (…)