Vaccines nowadays are a heap of a lot safer than those even 50 years ago.
Rabies vaccines used to be made with animal nervous system tissues, because that's what the virus lives in. Some unlucky folks develop an autoimmune response to their own nerve tissue because sometimes the immune system learns the wrong lesson, so to speak. Similarly, the smallpox vaccine is a live-virus vaccine made from the related Vaccinia virus. There were some major side effects and deaths associated with Vaccinia infection in some unfortunate few, but that was massively dwarfed by the many lives saved from eradicating smallpox.
Public health is ALWAYS a balancing act between bad outcomes. I wish people appreciated how much more careful and stringent we are now, and just how astonishingly effective and safe the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are in a historical context.
Vaccines nowadays are a heap of a lot safer than those even 50 years ago.
Rabies vaccines used to be made with animal nervous system tissues, because that's what the virus lives in. Some unlucky folks develop an autoimmune response to their own nerve tissue because sometimes the immune system learns the wrong lesson, so to speak. Similarly, the smallpox vaccine is a live-virus vaccine made from the related Vaccinia virus. There were some major side effects and deaths associated with Vaccinia infection in some unfortunate few, but that was massively dwarfed by the many lives saved from eradicating smallpox.
Public health is ALWAYS a balancing act between bad outcomes. I wish people appreciated how much more careful and stringent we are now, and just how astonishingly effective and safe the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are in a historical context.