Lopez: When I got COVID, readers said it proved vaccines don't work. What has RFK Jr. wrought?

I can’t accidental I was surprised, but it didn’t instrumentality agelong for readers to leap astatine the bait past week erstwhile I wrote that for the archetypal time, I had tested affirmative for COVID-19 contempt having been regularly vaccinated passim the pandemic.

“Vaccines are poison,” wrote 1 reader, who said I’d fallen for a hoax. “Wake up!”

Actually, arsenic I said past week, I wasn’t definite I was awake. I thought I mightiness beryllium having a COVID-induced nightmare arsenic I watched anti-vax Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. occurrence experts, dismantle his department, destruct morale, derail millions of dollars successful vaccine probe and past bark and bicker with senators astir it.

It turned retired my eyes were wide unfastened the full time.

Despite investigating positive, different scholar scolded, I “continue to vilify vaccine skeptics generally, and … Kennedy specifically. Truly fascinating.”

Even much fascinating is that with thing but half-baked theories and nary aesculapian credentials, Kennedy was handed the astir important occupation successful American medicine.

“Just inquire yourself WHY Barack Obama and Michelle Obama and Joe Biden and Jill Biden, on with Anthony Fauci ALL GOT the Vaccines and the boosters and they ALL got COVID-19!” asked different reader.

No. I’m not going to inquire myself WHY.

“Lopez got a booster earlier his travels and past got COVID. What does that archer us?” asked yet different reader. “It warns america of the ineffectiveness of the vaccine and Lopez’s misleading propaganda.”

Look, I get it. It’s hard to snuff retired misinformation erstwhile the nation’s wellness services medication specializes successful it. Kennedy’s Ministry of Hacks and Quacks has claimed determination is “no objective data” supporting COVID vaccines and said anyone tin get them, contempt an outcry that the caller restrictions are making them unavailable, much costly oregon hard to get.

Look, it’s 1 happening to willingly springiness up the U.S. relation arsenic satellite person successful science, biology extortion and biomedical research, but let’s enactment connected our reasoning caps for a infinitesimal earlier surrendering what’s near of communal sense.

Like RFK Jr., I’m nary doctor. But my knowing is that erstwhile the COVID vaccines were archetypal developed — and President Trump took bows, by the mode — they were not sold arsenic cures. They were a mode to assistance power the dispersed of the virus, trim severity and prevention lives.

Does anyone retrieve that successful the aboriginal days of COVID, earlier the vaccines were available, radical were horribly sick, and that we were connected our mode to much than 1 cardinal deaths successful the U.S. and 7 cardinal worldwide?

Some radical built impermanent immunity by surviving COVID. Others were protected by vaccines. The tide turned, and today, adjacent with this latest COVID strain, hospitalizations and deaths are comparatively rare.

When I got vaccinated a period ago, present was my thinking:

It had been 10 months since my past vaccination and I was astir to question cross-country, expanding my exposure. I knew we were a period retired from a caller vaccine that would beryllium a amended limb against the latest variant, but I opted for the existing vaccine, knowing that immoderate extortion is amended than none.

As I write, I’ve conscionable tested antagonistic aft 12 days. My symptoms were comparatively mild overall, and Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious illness adept astatine UC San Francisco, told maine I mightiness good person been overmuch sicker if I hadn’t been vaccinated a period agone and previously.

Readers had a antithetic takeaway, I told him. They said my corruption was impervious the vaccines don’t work.

“That’s a precise unfortunate interpretation,” helium said, fixed the existent subject of however and wherefore the vaccines work. “The radical I’m seeing successful the infirmary present are radical who didn’t get vaccinated.”

Chin-Hong said disorder astir the vaccine and concerns astir broadside effects are “understandable” due to the fact that of “all the speech coming retired of Washington, D.C., and the battle connected vaccines successful general.”

But helium said helium tells radical “we’ve had vaccines for galore decades, they’re 1 of the top advances successful modern medicine, and it’s the crushed we don’t spot galore of these puerility diseases immoderate more.”

Now that astir COVID cases are comparatively mild (thanks successful ample portion to the enactment of vaccines), and superior broadside effects from vaccines are rare, less radical are getting vaccinated arsenic regularly arsenic they erstwhile did. If you’re wondering whether and however often your children should beryllium vaccinated, I accidental you should travel the proposal of your doc alternatively than the mutterings of Kennedy and his minions.

But arsenic Rong-Gong Lin II reported for The Times, Kennedy’s caller national restrictions are making it hard for radical astatine higher hazard to get entree to the vaccine, adjacent arsenic cases surge.

Dr. Elizabeth E. Hudson, determination doc main of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, said radical 65 and older, and those who are immunocompromised should get vaccinated. And truthful should steadfast radical of each ages if they’re successful interaction with high-risk populations.

Hudson told maine mRNA exertion is harmless and effective, it goes backmost decades, and successful the lawsuit of COVID vaccines, it allows scientists to rapidly accommodate to caller strains.

“As idiosyncratic who was connected the beforehand lines successful 2021, I would ne'er spell backmost to that time, ever. It was horrible,” said Hudson. “It’s casual to forget, and cipher wants to dwell connected it, but successful L.A. County, we astir ran retired of oxygen due to the fact that truthful galore radical were needing [it] and being intubated. … It’s a vivid representation that volition instrumentality with maine for the remainder of my life.

“The vaccine changed the full calculus and trajectory of COVID from an in-patient illness wherever galore radical died to an out-patient illness wherever the bulk of radical volition consciousness miserable for a week oregon so, but they get better.”

Makes consciousness to me, but I’m not definite what to bash astir readers who disagree.

“I wanted to convey you for helping maine out. Sometimes I hide conscionable however encephalon dormant the wide near is but determination is ever an nonfiction oregon communicative to punctual me,” said one. “Keep writing, I request the laughs.”

Will do.

And I’m feeling amended now.

Could it beryllium the vaccine?

[email protected]