Vaccination is not propaganda. It is our defence strategy, our endeavour, and our alternative to combat this Covid-19 outbreak.
Covid-19 is not an uncommon name to me and to all people around the world including you, who are reading this article. When I asked my students during my Science Webinar on “What is Covid-19?”, they instantly answered with remarkable explanations on Covid-19. They shared their thoughts on what they knew about Covid-19 such as “Covid-19 affects our breathing system and causes critical coughing”, “Covid-19 causes a lot of deaths on people” and “Covid-19 was discovered and firstly spread from Wuhan, China”. The webinar really made me realise that people are actually paying attention on Covid-19 is to them. But, what rings in my mind is, how aware are they on this Covid-19 issue?
Covid-19 had caused many deaths in the human population especially back in 2020 and taken us to a period full of desperation, despair, sadness, and anxiety. SInce it was declared as a pandemic by WHO in that year, we Malaysians were ordered to adhere to the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO). I would agree that it had affected a lot of people especially in financial and psychological aspects. Many were depressed since they had lost their jobs, many people had to live afar from their family members and many people were struggling to earn money to survive.
Nevertheless, there is always a rainbow after the rain. We were introduced to vaccines for Covid-19 regardless of the many doubts, worries, and propagandas revolving around it back then. People were talking here and there as the issues became the headlines in many TV news. There were actually mixed opinions from people around the world as some of them were doubtful on the vaccines’ effectiveness and effects. Some people were even labelled as ‘anti -vaccines’ or ‘anti-vaxx’ as they reject the use of vaccines on them. Some people also believed that they did not need vaccines as their natural immune system was already strong enough to fight Covid-19.
As time meandered by, people were starting to accept Covid-19 vaccination as a way to reach herd immunity, fight, and stop the spread of Covid-19 within the community. People were more aware of the importance of taking vaccination to boost immunity and increase body antibodies to fight against Covid-19 in due time. People too were comparing what vaccines they got, whether Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Sinovac and argued about which one was better which somehow led to a healthy debate among themselves. Now, Covid-19 is declared as an endemic and people are actually trying to live with the new norm, where they are actually living in a community where Covid-19 is still around.
Vaccination is not propaganda. It is our defence strategy, our endeavour, and our alternative to combat this Covid-19 outbreak. We should always practise good hygiene and check on our health regularly in case there is any unusual fever or cough. Don’t forget to check on your loved ones, as they are in need of emotional support during this vulnerable and trying time. All in all, we are fighting this virus together and let’s end this Covid-19 chain for a better future.
Prepared by Mr. Salahuddin