Free COVID-19 Vaccines For All, Will Bring An End To It All!

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Begum COKMEZ and Mr. Ahmet Kayhan KORKUSUZ, two second-year medical students at Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey. They are affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Is vaccination necessary? What would it be if we didn’t have vaccines? Throughout the years, humanity faced a lot of diseases, endemics, pandemics, etc. No matter how hard it has been, there has always been a way out, whether by moving on to another place or wearing a mask. Humanity is good at surviving under difficult circumstances. For two years now, researchers have been trying to develop the best “way out” from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. So far, various types of vaccines have been produced to deal with the pandemic, however, there are still some people who do not appreciate the vaccines or are not able to get vaccinated because it is not available to them. One thing is sure, nothing will end without the vaccines.

What vaccines do is to tell your body cells that there are unwanted microorganisms or bacteria in the body, which your cells might not be aware of. It could be by sending mRNA agents to the cell membrane and the ribosomes directly or giving the weakest type of the unwanted agents that your immunity could deal with it. In both ways, the purpose is to increase the awareness of your body cells. By doing so, the immune system easily attacks the microorganisms.

Today, there are still not enough studies that approve children getting vaccinated. However, there are adults who are approved to get vaccines and choose not to. Although it is known as a fact that the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization and death is higher in unvaccinated than in vaccinated, there are still so many people that somehow do not believe in this virus or even in this pandemic’s existence. The unvaccinated people jeopardize the chance of getting rid of this pandemic for good. Not everything is a conspiracy, and not everyone has an agenda. There are very hardworking frontline people that worked and still are working day in and day out, trying to continue to help people. In addition to some people not choosing to get vaccinated, there are even more people who cannot get vaccinated because they cannot get hold of vaccines, or their country does not provide enough vaccines. Vaccination should be free and available for everyone. If we don’t accelerate the vaccination rates, we won’t be able to bring an end to this pandemic any time soon, especially with new variants surfacing rapidly.

What is it going to take? How long do people want this pandemic to last for? Vaccination needs to be prioritized and emphasized more, if needed, on every platform. Because the only way out of this pandemic is to inform the society about herd immunity and how it may be our only chance to put an end to this once and for all.

About the authors

Begum COKMEZ and Ahmet Kayhan KORKUSUZ are second-year medical students at Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey. Begum has had a great interest in the way the human body works since she was a kid, so her dream is to become a great physician in the future. Ahmet Kayhan is more interested in physiological processes that the human body has in it. He wants to become a great research physician because he wants to reach more people in the world.