It’s better not to die, because that’s the only way of getting good things such as success and happiness.
Eric Olson, University of Sheffield, UK.
However, vaccinations are essential for improving life expectancy and reducing mortality from diseases like covid-19, malaria, and polio.
Since the integration of vaccinations into public health in the 1960s, vaccine ingredients have changed how we think about death. Close to 20 million people walking today could be paralyzed without the polio vaccine.
According to Eric Olson, a professor of philosophy at the University of Sheffield in the UK, we consider death the worst thing that could ever happen to a person.
I certainly don’t want to die any time soon. I care for my friends and loved ones, and I also have selfish reasons for staying alive. We all do.
But history is full of plagues that annihilated humanity – The Black Death, the Ebola epidemic, and the Spanish Flu. Covid-19 will also sink in history as the deadliest pandemic of the 21st century, killing over 5.5 million people worldwide as of January 2022.
For decades, the scientific community has been developing cutting-edge technologies in medicine for these challenges. In Africa, Nigeria’s average life expectancy was about 37 years in 1960. However, a recent World Bank report suggests that the average person can live two decades longer.
Thanks to advances that improve immunity and new vaccines, infant mortality has also reduced tremendously.
Bureaucratic and ethical controversies threaten successful vaccination campaigns. For example, there are allegations that the FDA certifies drugs for profit rather than public safety. In the United States, it’s called the opioid crisis. Some also believe they can catch the flu from a vaccine.
Most vaccines, for example, polio, rabies, and hepatitis A are made from weakened or inactivated viruses. These vaccines cannot cause an infection when introduced into the body. Instead, they trigger an immune response that may last a lifetime.
Sometimes, reinfections may occur. For instance, after a total dose of the covid vaccine, the WHO noted Covid-19 reinfections among some patients.
Vaccine ingredients
The vaccine ingredients have changed how we think about death in several ways. First, we have every good reason to avoid extinction. According to Olson, being alive is the only chance to experience success and happiness.
In addition, civilizations that live long can create significant developments in all areas of life. As a result, governments worldwide have invested heavily in public health and vaccination programs.
Although vaccines do not guarantee immortality, we can achieve amortality. In Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind, Yuval Noah Harari describes amortality as living forever, except through violence and accidents.
There might be enough vaccine ingredients to eradicate infections from the earth. However, it would require more than just vaccines to cheat death.
Conclusion
The constant scientific breakthroughs in health, policymaking, and research and development mean that a child born today can expect to live for 72 years. These children will shape the rest of the 21st century. Perhaps we will become amortals.
However, in developing countries, challenges like corruption and ethnicity need to be addressed to ensure equality in health care. Most importantly, capacity building is key to destroying vaccine myths and misconceptions.
