Editor’s Note: This opinion is not the opinion of The Scribe. The medical opinions in this article are not from a medical professional.
Unpopular opinion! I’m not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
As a student teacher, I was offered the COVID-19 vaccine fairly early. Because of the nature of my job, both myself and the people I work with are next up after healthcare workers, while university teachers are delayed even further. (I think we’ve been made a priority mainly because people want their free childcare back and are over having to teach their children. I mean, where else are they going to get daycare that cheap, plus education?)
All that said, I will not be getting it. Here’s why:
Back in September, my mom lost her sense of smell and taste and had a fever, but like the crazy person she is, she kept working from home, disregarding the symptoms as a cold.
At the request of those around her, she got a blood test to check for COVID-19 antibodies. It turns out she had contracted the virus (insert sarcastic gasp).
During that time, I was living with my mom, because as an English education major, having one of the worst-paying jobs in the world isn’t enough — I have to pay to work full-time for a year before I get the horrible salary. (Side note: according to business.org, Colorado is ranked the second worst state to teach in.)
So, while my mom was sick, I was living with her, where she refused to quarantine in her room. In fact, she spent most of her time in the most central room in the house where her coughing and phlegm were spouting into the air like a poisonous plume.
Despite being in her house for the entire time she had COVID-19, I never got sick. Why is that?
The reason I believe is because I have an O blood type.
According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Type O and Rh-negative blood may protect against COVID-19 infection.
This would make sense, as my dad, who lives with my mom, also didn’t experience any symptoms.
In short, I contracted the virus, didn’t show symptoms or get sick, likely because of my blood type, and now I have natural immunity.
But you can still get the virus again even after you’ve contracted it, right? According to the CDC, you can, but the chances of that happening are very low.
“Experts do not yet know how long someone is protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19,” the CDC reports. “The immunity someone gains from having an infection, called ‘natural immunity,’ varies from person to person. It is rare for someone who has had COVID-19 to get infected again.”
But in the same paragraph, they talk about vaccine immunity the same way they talk about natural immunity.
“We won’t know how long immunity produced by vaccination lasts,” the CDC says, “until we have more data on how well the vaccines work.”
So, you’re telling me that I should get a vaccine even though I already have natural immunity, when there’s not enough data to prove that a vaccine is better? I’ll wait. Y’all have fun with that.