You do realise dude that after 2 or more years in periodic lock-downs most of us, especially young children, will get ill just from riding the bus right?
I hope lock-downs are not what he meant… I also hope world leaders realise this…
Vaccines have changed our quality of life tremendously, enabling us to grow safely as populations. They are safe, becoming more and more sophisticated in dealing with the nastiest of diseases including cancer.
A lot of people I’ve talked to lately have been asking me, along with everyone, what my opinion about the vaccine is. All I could reply is “I don’t know”. I’ve read all I could, I’ve listened to podcasts and still I don’t know. A friend is one of the first in line to get it and not even the reassuring remark “let others have it first and we’ll see” applies. I tried to reassure him by asking whether the danger he’s currently in doesn’t stress him out with very negative effects as well.
Listening to the podcast about how the Moderna and Pfizer (link below) came about, one realises that engineers and computer programmers are the ones doing a biologist’s work. They may bring timely results and may even be on the way to become heroes, but the long dormant biologist inside me insists that all this should be treated with scepticism. The most noteworthy point of the interview is where it is stated that it took 48 hours after receiving the full genome of the virus to develop the two mRNA vaccines currently in the market. If these methods for developing vaccines prove effective through the mass covid-19 vaccination, we may be on our way to becoming almost invincible as a species to pathogens, also taking into consideration the possibility of a mutation, not covered by the current vaccine. Should it take so little to alter the vaccine to encompass mutations, in a way that effectiveness remains unchanged, then the good news is that it won’t be long until we are covid-19 or covid-20 free, the bad news is that the more the natural environment is degraded the more pathogens there will be.
I have worked with engineers and although they are unusually great at bringing in good results, they often forget to include in their hard work the part where you take a step back and analyse what it is you have in a living world context. I have been amazed at how they are not trained to observe the patterns of the living world but their focus always gravitates towards developing new engineered patterns. In fact that experience made me realise I might be becoming an old bearded relic of the past, putting more emphasis on our role in the biosphere than on human wellbeing, survival or the economy. Despite my limited understanding of immunology, through my understanding of ecotoxicology, which is my main source of scepticism, I am able to say that it has been eye-opening to learn about synergies and antagonisms leading to surprising outcomes, the ways that environmental polluntants act as pseudohormones (e.g. environmental oestogens) and the ways in which things, such as heavy metals and pesticides damage the nervous system.
For a long time there has been some speculation that vaccines are linked to auto-immune diseases and the mechanism is just too obvious: you try to trick the immune system and the immune system may get wrong messages, along with the right ones. However, if you weigh the pros and cons of vaccines for the general human population, the pros most definately win. But what if you look more closely at how a person’s life changed when they had to deal with speculated side-effects, such as allergies, narcolepsy, or autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, lupus etc.)? The choice of getting vaccinated, makes great sense in an overpopulated world, but looking at the larger picture we shouldn’t forget that it is also one that is based on an engineered pattern, messing with evolution. Then I remind myself that evolution embraces all living things and cares little about whether I acknowledge it or not.
I am in no way an antivaccer, but I am also not cheering at the moment. There is nothing without side-effects. I will take the risk, but I also do expect sometime this summer to read about some suprising vaccine side-effect in a fraction of the population, hopefully so tiny it will matter very little in comparison to the risks of not getting it, but to the people affected.
We met about a month ago through a common contact. I was considering her for a job, so in a way it was an interview. We spoke on the phone and arranged to meet for coffee in Koliatsou square. I didn’t even know where that was, even though I have grown up in Athens and used to work nearby, by Victoria square. I looked it up on the map and off I went. As I entered Kypseli area, I started seeing a different Athens. As you move through the traffic, from the rigid old-school southeaster-European heavy meak-up – leather bag with a lot of gold hanging – dyed blond hair – shiny shoe and navy blue suit – Syntagma area, upwards towards Ano Patissia, the landscape starts lighting up with colour. It could have been Clapham or Hackney in London, but in reality, you know this is a different story, with a fraction of opportunity and intgration potential. Police on every corner surrounded by suspicious, rough and gloomy faces, people rushing somewhere along the main road, some nicely dressed with expensive sneakers, some a bit rugged, most in between. However, once you leave the main road and go inwards through the small streets, you get to see smiles and swag which burst your middle-class bubble. A bubble, burst a long time ago, but still a valid illusion for various sociopolitical reasons, all aimed at you feeling you have something to loose.
She was running a bit late, so I sat at a coffee shop and rung her. She mentioned she has a son and that she had to leave him with someone, but that she would be there soon. After we hung up, I regret not telling her to bring him along, but I assumed she would leave him with family. And then I met Joy. Big smile, pretty girl, funny face and so cool I easily imagined having many more coffees and chatting in the future. Sadly, I couldn’t really offer her anything at the time due to various circumnstances, but I got some sweets from the coffee shop for her to bring to her to son and somehow apologise for wasting her time. As I was driving off, all I could think was what her life might be like, all alone in Athens without any family but a small child, a young beautiful girl with her life ahead of her, in a jungle of exploitation, violence and obscenity. There was something about her movements and her body that reminded me of myself when I was 28 with a boy her son’s age, always running around with a back pack and a little monkey hanging. I never appreciated my body more, I felt a certain gratitude towards it, being strong, reliable and young and enabling me to go anywhere with any amount of baggage.
She rung me up a couple of days ago and the first thing she asked me was how my son is. We chatted a bit and I was so sorry I couldn’t offer her a job. After we hung up, I couldn’t stop thinking about her and the Africa I had come to love. I’ve never met anyone from sub-Saharan Africa whine or complain about how unpriviledged they are. Everyone is always cool. I think coolness originates from sub-Saharan Africa. I tried asking her about her cirumnstances, now that there is a quarantine, but she just replied, “oh yeah it’s hard”. I had no idea if I was going to go ahead with it and risk getting a 300 euro fine, but I went to the supermarket and bought a few things that evening. I called her the next morning and said “hey, would you like me to come over and bring you some groceries?”, she thanked me in the most gracious and dignified way a person could.
I got in the car the next day and drove through the city, police on every corner and almost got pulled over. I got to Koliatsou square and parked at the back side. A lot of people were in the streets, nothing had changed here, other than the heavy presence of the police and everyone seeming much more rushed than usual. A guy looking like a character from a Kusturica movie double parked blocking me. I locked the car door and lit a cigarette wondering whether he’s a drug dealer. When he came back he looked at me solemnly and then said “sorry, was I blocking your way?”, I replied he was’t and he gave me a big warm smile. Then I saw Joy, running through the square. She was wearing tight pants showing her long strong legs and a jacket so small, it could have been her son’s. She opened her backpack and showed me three packaged chocolate croissants, like the ones you get from a kiosk for less than one euro. She explained someone was giving them out for free at a certain time everyday and she had to go and get them. I felt like I was seeing a good friend. She was out of breath, a bit stressed, but smiling. I was a bit stressed out too about getting back without getting caught. When I got back, I got a text from her thanking me. It almost felt like I had reached out to my younger self.
whatevahwhatevah 