If María Ruiz is convinced of something of 45 years, is that you will not get the COVID vaccine – 19, neither she, nor her husband nor her only son of 10 years.
“That COVID vaccine – 19 is emergency for high-risk people. I am not a high-risk person, I do not have chronic diseases, I am not obese and I take the sun and my vitamins daily. ”
María is part of the group of those who oppose the vaccine against COVID – , and who call themselves the resistance against immunization.
“They clearly tell you that the vaccine will not prevent give you COVID, the only thing it does is prevent you from going to the hospital. A person who is healthy, who is not obese and exercises daily, if the virus hits him, he will not end up in the hospital. So how does it help you? ”, He asks.
In fact, María believes that she already had COVID last year. “I did not take the test. I spent a month and a half in bed and locked up, but I didn’t have to go to the hospital. ”
This immigrant from Costa Rica who is already a US citizen forcefully remarks that she is not going to get the vaccine, but yes, she says that she takes her precautions, wears a mask, does not attend mass events and does not bring people into her house .
And in addition to the daily consumption of vitamins, exercising and a good diet, he says that “my family and I are trying to be more in contact with nature and we went out a lot to do hiking (hiking) since the pandemic began ”.
The voices of the opponents of vaccines are heard at a time when there is a growing lack of demand for the immunization against the coronavirus, which raises fear because that anti-immunization resistance may cause community immunity not to be achieved as soon as originally thought.
Until Sunday 25 April, more than 225 millions of Americans had received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and almost a quarter of the population was fully vaccinated.
But at the same time, millions are no longer returning going for the second dose. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 92% of people have taken both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, but there are 8% that are equivalent to 5 million Americans that they have missed the second dose.
Dr. Eloísa González from Los Angeles County General Hospital and the University of Southern California, argues that there are many reasons why people no longer return for the second dose.
“They think that already with the first dose they have enough protection, they were scared, they fear side effects or they got carried away by misinformation. Actually, we don’t know. ”
What is true is that until now they do not know what is the level of security that a person acquired with only one dose. “ The only thing we know for sure is that maximum protection is reached two weeks after the second dose ”
Therefore, he advises people who did not take the second dose to do so as soon as possible and up to 6 weeks later.
José Ramírez, a naturalized Nicaraguan immigrant from the United States, who is around the 45 years and asked not to reveal his real name because he is dedicated to journalism In California, he says he would not get the vaccine even if they pay him, because he considers it to be experimental and it has not been proven that it prevents the virus.
“It is a big economic business of the pharmaceutical companies and a whole dramatic show has been mounted to make us wear them, especially Latinos and minorities because they want to exterminate an entire people and leave our children sterile. ”
He says that the voices of accredited scientists are not allowed hear; and instead of those who brainwash us and create the need to get the vaccine.
“I don’t even believe in the use of masks, but I wear them in the obligatory places. ”
How do I take care of myself so as not to get infected? “I take vitamins Zinc, Magnesium, C”.
Dr. Eloísa González of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. (Courtesy of LA County Department of Public Health)
Myths and misinformation
Dr. González confirms that the demand for the vaccine has decreased, which may be due to because people are busy or have wrong ideas or wrong information.
“What we ask of you is that they do not get carried away by myths or conspiracy theories. On our site VacunateLosAngeles.com We have answers to frequently asked questions and myths that are spread on social media. Sometimes the resistance does not come from the anti-vaccines but from educated people who do not have the correct information or rely on unreliable sources. ”
If you are healthy and do not have chronic diseases, do you run less risk?
Dr. González said that it is very likely, but it has also been seen in emergency rooms apparently healthy people who have come to have severe consequences. “It is not guaranteed to 100% that people due to their age or physical condition do not can become seriously ill. And even when that happens, if they acquire the virus they can be transmitters of the virus to the most vulnerable such as their dear friends or family. ”
The medical specialist emphasized that especially healthy Latino men have died at rates three times more than white men when infected. “There are Latino men of 50 years who have come on their own feet to the hospital and they never go out again. ”
What do you think of those who tell us that they are exposing us to an experimental vaccine?
“ The virus is the same again and has killed millions through it all the world. We have not had a single death from the vaccine. On the other hand, the risk of infection by the virus is astronomical ”.
What about the versions that the vaccine causes sterilization
“Until now it has not been seen to cause problems with the fertility of women or mens. According to the experience of vaccines that we have used for decades, reactions manifest in the first 6 weeks after vaccination, no new effects are ever seen after that date.
At the moment we have no reason to tell us that it could have a negative effect, and the women who participated in the studies of vaccines and those who were warned not to get pregnant. ”