- Esther Good
The COVID-19 Vaccine and a Little Bit of Hope
Updated: Jan 20
2020 has been a difficult year for all of us. In January, I began to hear the rumblings about a novel coronavirus while on my clinical rotations. When asked whether I thought it would result in a pandemic, I said no. But I was wrong. The next few months brought cancelled rotations, cancelled Match Day, and cancelled graduation as COVID-19 spread across the globe.
Since beginning my internship in Emergency Medicine in June, I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression while trying to learn my role as a physician within a health system that is trying to learn its role in a pandemic. Recently, it seems each day brings news of a friend or acquaintance who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Many have lost loved ones, livelihoods, or both.
In light of all of this, I feel grateful to have received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today. This vaccine will not bring back the dreams, memories, and loved ones that we lost this year. But it does feel like a small ray of hope on what has been a very dark road.
Last month, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Anthony Fauci discuss the new COVID-19 vaccines in a webinar. He acknowledged that many people are suspicious of the vaccine because the process has been completed so quickly. However, this vaccine went through each phase of vaccine development just as others do, and the results of each companies’ trials were analyzed by an independent body.
What allowed the process to happen so fast, in addition to scientific advances, was the magnitude of funding that allowed preparation for each next phase so that it could begin as soon as the previous phase was complete. This funding also allowed developers to begin production before their vaccines were approved so that if they were deemed to be safe and effective, they could be rolled out quickly. While there are no guarantees in life, I feel confident that this process was conducted as safely as possible, and I have hope that this vaccine will help me keep my family, patients, and colleagues safe.
