Vaccinations and Why Mandatory Programmes Help

Making an Informed Decision about Vaccination – What you need to know

A Vaccinated Industry is a Safe, Sustainable and Successful Industry

In the latest news, we are not only facing the discovery of a new variant of Covid-19, Omicron, but a significant uptick in overall cases in South Africa, especially Gauteng.

SA COVID CASES SPIKE AGAIN AS 11,535 NEW CASES RECORDED - Gauteng accounts for 72% of the new coronavirus infections, the Western Cape 6% and KwaZulu-Natal 5%.

Click HERE for full article.

And the latest reports indicate that vaccinations will become mandatory in South Africa in early 2022, with the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the country’s biggest labour group, now joining business groups in backing the move.

Click HERE for full article.

One of the critical aspects of this lies in the fact that the number of Omicron cases actually do not make up a large proportion of these cases as yet. There will be a delay until those cases show whether they require hospitalisation as they’re very new. So the majority of cases we’re seeing are still more likely to be Delta variant which we know causes a high number of hospitalisations in unvaccinated people. This is a good thing because the current vaccines ARE effective against Delta, and have been seen to be more effective than natural immunity against Omicron.

So vaccination, masking, sanitisation, and maintenance of social distancing are still the most effective responses to Covid-19 in all its variants. Vaccination is critical further in the prevention of the development of even more variants. Given South Africa’s large immunocompromised population with TB and HIV fairly endemic, not only was our scientific community pro-active in the discovery of Omicron, but the unvaccinated population is extremely vulnerable to variants arising as vaccine uptake slows.

When a population is largely unvaccinated, those with compromised immune systems may be sicker for longer with the virus. Mutations happen when the virus particles are allowed to reproduce uncontrollably for a length of time. Mutations are mistakes that occur as the virus makes more and more copies of DNA/RNA and creates more of itself. The longer the virus is allowed to reproduce in a body, the more mistakes happen – creating variants which are passed on and spread between humans.

Vaccinated people clear their infection quickly from their systems, the vaccines having instructed the body to recognise the virus immediately. This means the virus has far less time to make copies of itself and make mistakes in the process. It’s a matter of time.

What is the point?

The point lies in increasing the proportion of vaccinated, protected people in the population, to the degree that they outnumber the unvaccinated, vulnerable proportion. This not only creates a smaller pool for the virus to develop mutations, but means we can look at the long-term goal of creating a mild, endemic disease in the human population, like the common cold.

Futurist and well known author Graeme Codrington puts it best:

Seatbelts work. So do vaccines.

One of the common criticisms of the Covid vaccines is that they don't work. People ask: "why are vaccinated people scared of the unvaccinated?"

Well, the truth is that vaccines DO work, just not perfectly. Exactly like seatbelts in cars. Just because sometimes some people still die in car accidents, even if they're wearing seatbelts doesn't mean that we shouldn't bother with seatbelts at all.

Vaccines protect us against Covid in three ways:

1. They make it much less likely that we will get Covid.

2. Even if we do get Covid, they then further ensure we only get a mild case of Covid.

3. And, even if we get a bad version of Covid, it lasts fewer days (this deals with the criticism that vaccinated people with Covid have the same viral load as the unvaccinated - they might do, IF they get badly sick, but will have that viral load for fewer days and infect fewer people).

Vaccines work. The data is clear.

Vaccines are not harmful - even though we know some people will have adverse effects, this is much, much less of an issue than people getting Covid.

#RollUpYourSleevesSA and get vaccinated today.

Click HERE or the image below to watch the video.

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We’ve asked some of our top professionals in the industry to share their thoughts with us and each week we’ll be sharing their stories for you to enjoy. If you have a positive experience you’d like to share with us on the vaccine and the differences it’s made in your personal life or your salon and with your clients’ appreciation of their salon experiences, please send to Beth at beth@hairnews.co.za , with a photo you’d like us to use!

Industry Vaccination: Safety, Sustainability and A Return to Normality