Covid-19 Vaccines: Why the South Burnett needs to bin the Facebook conspiracy theories and get vaxxed

We’ve been lucky so far during the pandemic, but make no mistake – we’re vulnerable. It’s okay to be cautious or confused about getting the vaccine – but don’t let social media users scare you off it, talk to an actual expert.

A little wait in line, a small pinch and a sore arm – that’s all it took for me to get vaccinated, but the results will be so important.

I was lucky enough to get my first does of the Covid-19 vaccine recently, and to say I feel relieved is an understatement.

This isn’t just protecting me – it’s protecting the people I love: my friends, my family, my colleagues, my community.

This pandemic has caused so much heartache to so many and for so many different reasons.

It's now up to all of us to ensure we end it as soon as possible.

I normally wouldn’t write a piece like this, my personal health isn’t normally news the community needs to read about.

But in recent weeks I’ve been disturbed and angered by the flood of ill-informed, false and often downright ridiculous misinformation and anti-vaccination content flooding social media posts.

This op-ed isn’t for the extreme anti-vaxxers, who I’m sure will have a field day in comments, I doubt there’s anything that could sway them from their beliefs.

This piece is for you, the person still on the fence about whether you want to get the vaccine.

South Burnett Times editor Dominic Elsome received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine recently. Picture: Holly Cormack

There’s a lot of information out there and plenty of wild theories and outright lies being spread mostly on social media.

So let me implore you to do one thing – don’t listen to what people on the internet or social media tell you to do. Talk to an expert.

Talk to your doctor, or another healthcare professional. They can discuss the reality of the vaccine and give you facts, not fear.

If you’re wondering if you even need a vaccine, given how low the death rate of Covid-19 is, please understand that the way the mortality rate has been discussed is too simplistic.

The reason the death rate for Covid is so low, is because modern medicine is so good.

But if this virus – particularly the more virulent delta variant – is left to run through the population unopposed, our system won’t cope.

ICU beds would quickly be filled and that means people needing those beds to survive won’t get them.

Not just Covid patients, but car crash victims, heart attack survivors, and many others.

So please, if you can get vaccine and are willing to, make sure you do it, and do it fast.

If you’re not sure, turn of the social media, pick up the phone and call your GP.

Get real advice, not lies.

Originally published as Covid-19 Vaccines: Why the South Burnett needs to bin the Facebook conspiracy theories and get vaxxed