Parenthood: Week 449 – The Love In Vaccines

I had no hesitation.

Ethan was going to get his last, and final polio vaccine dose and his fifth DTaP shot (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine)

I had told him that the vaccine would be like a pinch in his leg and that it would hurt, but only for a little bit. I assured him that he is brave, just like his older brother Ollie who had gotten his COVID-19 vaccine just a couple of days ago. This all seemed to assure him about the vaccine experience, but once the nurse came in, she instructed me to lie him down, Ethan lost it.

There are moments to pump the brakes and talk things out, and there are moments to make things happen. This was later, so I forced Ethan’s leg down that was kicking at me, moved his pants, and held him down.  Ethan told me in a shaky voice that he was scared. I told him that it would be over soon. I looked straight into his eyes, and as much as I hated to do this, I thought to myself, “this is better than him getting polio and being paralyzed.”

I felt his body tense up as the first shot that went into his thigh. I told him that he was almost done, and I felt his body shudder as the second shot went in. The nurse quickly put band-aids on his legs, and I swept him up into my arms and wrapped him up in my jacket. I carried him over to the chair of the examination room and held him close. Calming down, Ethan whimpered in a soft voice, “when am I got going to get the vaccines?”

“You just got the vaccines,” I assured him.

“What?” Ethan asked, confused. I laughed to myself and hugged him tighter.

The COVID-19 vaccine has helped me come to no longer take for granted the vaccines that generations of medical researchers have developed for the human race. The amount of pain and suffering that my children have not had to experience because of vaccines is incalculable. My children have never had to endure the pain of hepatitis B, rotavirus, haemophilus influenza, pneumococcal, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and hepatitis A because of vaccines. And if you don’t believe me about how destructive these viruses and diseases are, Google them and read about what they do to children.   It is horrifying.

What's more disturbing is the fact that without the widespread use of these vaccines, one or more of my three children most likely would be dead.

COVID-19 has also brought into our children’s minds the importance of vaccines. Ollie knows that Diana and I have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, and Ethan has been wondering about it. It’s a very abstract idea to him, which was evident a couple of weeks ago when he asked us if the vaccine would fit in our house.

I told Ollie last weekend how proud I was of him for being brave and getting the COVID-19 vaccine shot. I explained how vaccines are more than something clinical and scientific. It’s something that we can do for ourselves and others at exactly the same time. It’s a way of saying “I love you” to yourself and others.

As I held I told him that I loved him, and I felt gratitude for who people who dedicated their lives to creating vaccines.  I can see their work in the light in my children's and the hope in their hearts.