Vaccination has always been an important topic for me to express interest in, ever since I was a student. I remember celebrating the “World Immunization Week” by raising awareness with my colleagues on the importance of getting vaccinated and the pharmacists’ role in delivering vaccines in community pharmacies. Even my master thesis tackled the legislative aspects on how flu vaccination is being rolled out in different EU member states, as a comparative study, and how the pharmacists’ role is being seen in this process. Together with my student peers from EPSA (European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association) we received the "EU Health Award for NGOs” in 2017 – 3rd prize for the "Vaccination Awareness Campaign” we held in 2016 across Europe. But my vaccination journey was not about to stop then.
On 17 April, I had been administrated the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, in Romania, after being placed on the waiting list for almost 3 weeks. For obvious reasons, I will not disclose which vaccine I got, as this is not important (sidenote: it is approved by European Medicines Agency 😉), but I felt like I was part of a historical moment and it was my responsibility to show solidarity and courage in such trying times we live in.
I contemplated a while if I should post a picture on social media or not, as the initial plan was to take it as a memory which I can share with my grandchildren when I will explain to them the importance of vaccination and how the world ended the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for the past days, I constantly saw on the news articles about the young people’s hesitancy on vaccination and I thought “If my picture will motivate some of my skeptical friends to get vaccinated, then, so be it!”. The reaction was formidable, and I received many congratulatory messages as well as questions about the vaccination process and how the campaign is being held in my country. Moreover, my parents, got the vaccine shots the next days as a result of my encouragements and example.
I really want to get back to normal or a new kind of normal:
To be able to hug my parents and grandparents without hesitancy or fear of the possibility of getting them sick.
To finally get to see Lady Gaga & Sam Smith in a concert.
To attend again a music festival and meet my friends in a safe environment.
To be able to travel without the hustle and anxiety of getting tested, wearing masks, being afraid of people.
If I could advise anyone who is reading my message and perhaps is still feeling hesitant to get the vaccine, I will tell them only this:
Please, please, get vaccinated and trust the science behind the power of prevention through vaccination. It’s way easier to prevent a disease, than to treat it!
By Elena Popa, Senior Manager, Scientific Programmes, DIA