An overwhelming majority of people need to take the Covid-19 vaccine so our world can begin to heal

The Covid-19 vaccines have been developed with record speed — that is wildly exciting to some and scary to others.

For those who are concerned about the speed, I would say that the development pace was not due to a reduction in quality or safety measures; it was the product of groups of the smartest people in the world committed to solving the same problem at the same time.

Scientists worked around the clock, regulators worked around the clock and federal governments around the world reduced the financial risk for the companies doing the work. Turns out vaccine development is not a big money-maker for these companies, but nothing like a global pandemic can inspire people to a higher cause than the bottom line. They were inspired, and they were successful.

We asked our staff to talk about why they will be taking the vaccine as soon as it is available to them; they had important and powerful things to say.

Remember that these are people who are on the front lines, who have seen the way Covid-19 can ravage a person’s health, and who are working every day to keep people safe and healthy.

Here are some of their responses to the question, “Why am I taking this vaccine?”

• “Because I believe in science, and I practice what I teach.”

• “For all the people who aren’t in the first wave, it is my responsibility to do all that I can for them.”

• “For the volunteers in the vaccine study, who took the risk before they knew it was safe.”

• “For myself and all the people I care about.”

• “So I can look my loved ones in the eye and tell them I did all that I can to stop the spread of this deadly virus.”

The overwhelming winners were our staff members talking about who they wanted to protect and hug: sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, grandchildren and nieces and nephews. (To view our staff’s reaction to taking the vaccine, check out trwg.org/covid-19.)

I get it. We really miss touching other people to show our love. The vaccine is a big step in that direction.

I spent some time last week speaking with a local scientist who explained the vaccine to me in layman’s terms. His summary: “There are no novel ingredients. These ingredients have been injected into millions of people over the years. It is just a novel ‘delivery method’ with the mRNA biotechnology,” and he ended by saying he would take it today if it was available to him, and give it to his wife and three children.

Sometimes speed is scary, but in this case it doesn’t scare me. I am impressed but not afraid. The smartest people in the world got together to try to solve the same problem. And they did. Now it is time to do our part. This is a vaccine that has been proven effective and safe. Our state and national epidemiologists urge us to take the shot. They are the best experts we have. We should listen to them.

An overwhelming majority of people need to take the vaccine as soon as possible so our world can begin to heal.

For 10 months we have been calling our nurses and doctors and front-line workers heroes, and they are — they are doing their job. Now it is time for the rest of us to step up and do our part. That’s our job. Take the shot.

Justine Vogel is CEO of the Exeter-based River-Woods Group.