I hate the Coronavirus, seriously. It has single-handedly ruined everything I had planned this summer. From missed college visits to taking away my school year, I have as much reason to want this virus to disappear as the next person. While this may be the case, I still think Russia and this magical vaccination seem a little too risky.

According to the New York Times,” In a small group of volunteers, the scientists found that the vaccine produced a modest level of antibodies against the coronavirus, while causing only mild side effects.”

Russia has already started testing out their COVID vaccine. Without even going into phase 3 of running tests to see if there were any side effects. Which is very scary as we don’t even know all the side effects of this new vaccine. History has shown us that rushing vaccines can lead to even more problems.

Rushed vaccinations have not always worked as well as promised. Like for instance back in 1955, The Cutter Incident led to a lot of problems especially with the children who were taking these vaccines.

The Cutter Incident was when the US government released its first vaccination for Polio and boy did it go bad real fast. CNN reported that more than 200,000 kids received the vaccine and it led to some serious health problems.

According to a CNN report “Forty thousand kids got polio. Some had low levels, a couple hundred were left with paralysis, and about 10 died,” said Dr. Howard Markel, a pediatrician” 

Even though this took place in America, this is still exactly what could happen in Russia and maybe here in America if we rush one as well. We don’t have to rush. I know businesses especially want to get back rolling again, but we don’t want to add to this chaos.

If this vaccination goes wrong, it will make things a whole lot worse for everybody. I understand the CDC does a great job now with identifying these flaws within vaccinations, but in desperate times like these who’s to say they don’t rush protocol.

As a US citizen, this makes me uneasy due to the fact that if Russia does figure this thing out, they gain a lot of power within foreign trade. Especially since we have already denied giving out COVID treatments they could definitely swoop in and really benefit on the public relation side of things. 

Now, this would result in the US, who already doesn’t have the best representation with Trump, being put farther in the dark within foreign relations. I know that America doesn’t want Russia to get the vaccination first.

Also, I just believe the U.S., especially under Trump, is going to rush a vaccination even worse than the one in Russia, especially since the U.S. numbers are really bad when it comes to COVID. Trump has been getting a lot of backlash because of this and I know he is just going to rush headfirst into this like he does everything else.

COVID-19 is a serious force to be reckoned with, but should we be rushing out vaccinations? No, we simply have to social distance and wear a mask. We need to give researchers the time and space needed to make something that is going to get the job done.

All I’m saying is Russia giving out a vaccine is not the way to go for health reasons. This would damage the U.S. and its foreign relations even more than already has been, largely thanks to Trump. So, just hold your loved ones tightly. We don’t know what’s next to come this year and let us just hope it’s not a rushed vaccine.