Diaspora
Armenians and the COVID-19 vaccine
In late December of 2020, Ani Panossian’s physician husband, who rarely shares personal content on social media, posted a photo of himself getting jabbed.
Friends and family rushed to comment. “Is he okay? He should be very brave to take the vaccine.”
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As a non-vaccinated, college educated Armenian-American professional, I wish you had dug a bit deeper into the “why’s” of those of us to choose not to vaccinate, rather than simply labeling us as “anti-vaxxers” with no context. Religion isn’t a reason. Nor is politics. Nor skepticism. Quite simply, it’s the statistical evidence. Combined with lifestyle choices. To wit: The positivity rate is about 2 percent right now. Which means the overwhelming majority of my state’s citizens do not have the virus. Of those who contract the virus, there is an over 95 percent survivor rate. As to lifestyle choices, I’m not in a public-facing job, I don’t have underlying conditions, nor do I attend concerts or crowded indoor venues. We saw the outbreak in Provincetown,Mass. last month among most who were fully vaccinated, so might I respectfully point out that the vaccinated in the U.S. still are not free to enjoy “the old normal.”
You can get the virus anywhere… Viruses don’t care about your lifestyle choices mate. If you get vaccinated your much better protected. In your mind the virus will enter your state and then give you many months of decision making leverage before infecting you. Like I said earlier viruses don’t care about your personal feelings or schedules.
Sorry but a college education does not ensure you understand statistics.
This is for CA: Unvaccinated have a 6-1 higher case rate and represent 78% of the hospitalized patients. The divide is even wider than it looks due to 2/3 of CA adults being vaccinated. So 78% of the hospitalized in PIH hospitals are coming from the 1/3 that are unvaccinated.
State and Local Impact
According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), for the week of August 7, the daily case rate among the unvaccinated was 51 per 100,000 while the case rate among the vaccinated, also known as “breakthrough infections,” was merely 8.2 per 100,000. The CDPH clarifies: “The vast majority of new cases are among the unvaccinated with 600% higher case rates among the unvaccinated than for those who are vaccinated.”
In Los Angeles County, the daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 confirmed patients is also showing a worrying trend. While the 3-day average dropped to between 400 and 200 in May and mid-June, it has since spiked to over 1,600 as of August 16.
PIH Health Hospitals
Our hospitals are seeing a similar story play out. The number of COVID-19 patients in PIH Health hospitals has spiked considerably from previous months.
As of August 16, there were 101 COVID-19 positive patients admitted to our hospitals. Of this total, 79 of them were unvaccinated. This means that 78% of COVID-19 patients in PIH Health hospitals were unvaccinated.
I am an Armenian American physician having seen countless COVID infections and deaths in hospitals that I work in California. The statistics quoted is I ly part of the story. COVID is magnitude of order more contagious and deadly than common cold. Vaccines do not prevent all infections but significantly reduce the severity, and to the best of my recollection based on published confirmed data there has been no death due to COVID in a vaccinated individual. As the safety of the vaccine- with billions of doses administered, the safety and efficacy is proven without her doubt (the comparison of vaccinated and I vaccinated represents the largest comparative dataset for study)
Other issues need to be addressed. Choice of vaccinating or not may appear to be and individual one; however it’s not. An unvaccinated individual(s) may be contributing to the emergence of mutations and more virulent viral strains. An unvaccinated individual will use disproportionately more health care resources at a mich higher cost, limiting health care to others and exposing others to the infection.
I can not start a bun fire in my neighborhood just because I want to; as a community member I worry about the fire spreading to my neighbors, and the unnecessary danger I pose to the fire department of and when the fire spreads.
We accept that the vaccine not for is but for our parents, children, siblings and community at large.
I feel that there’s been no voice for those who’ve already had COVID and acquired NATURAL immunity. That immunity is for a lifetime. Go back to your immunology books that you studied years ago. Lifetime!
After all, the vaccines are trying to emulate the natural process. Right?
Natural immunity and personal choice are real and should be part of any conversation about vaccination.
Forcing the vaccine on those with prior infection, who have a greater degree of protection against all versions of the virus than those with any of the vaccines is ridiculous!
People who have had COVID already have significantly more protection from the virus than people who’ve been vaccinated.
Also, the covid vaccine(s) aren’t as benign as you think. There are risks and warnings on the pamphlet drug facts sheet. Blood clots, neurological issues, sterility, heart issues, permanent disability….and death!
Look into The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
Maybe more effects to come in 3-5 years. It’s still unknown. Right doctor? I personally know someone (a nurse) who got the pfizer vaccine on Mon and on Thursday (of the same week) he died! No co-morbities. (Autopsy was performed) Blood clots killed him -side effect from the vaccine. His widowed wife can’t legally go after anyone.
Good luck what ever you decide to do.
The best way to overcome the covid 19 hesitancy is to remind Armenians that it is The Armenian – Noubar Afeyan – who founded biotech company Moderna, that produced one of the best covid 19 vaccines in the world to date.
Dr Jack Kevorkian was an Armenian. I wouldn’t have taken his medical advice on anything- just because he was Armenian.