We were recently heading out to Steveston with Karli's sister Stefanie on a covert fish and chips run, and the topic of COVID-19 vaccinations came up. During the conversation, Stefanie mentioned her concerns about getting sick from being vaccinated.
It's an understandable concern, but misplaced in this case. In the case of traditional vaccines, they do work by injecting a small piece of the target virus, called an antigen, into your body. Your immune system recognizes that it's been infected, albeit in a minor fashion, and produces virus-specific antibodies that give you resistance in case you're exposed to the full version of the virus.
RNA based vaccines, like the Pfizer product that I've recently received, provide the body with instructions on how to build the antigens, so that the immune system can prepare T-cell and antibody responses all on its own that provide resistance without being infected.
Extremely simplifying something that I'd seen on the XKCD webcomic, I offered the following by way of explanation:
"No, it's more like the injection gives your body the plans to the Death Star."
A short silence ensued.
Karli, sensing the problem, said, "It's from Star Wars - you know, the big globe thing."
"Well, maybe if it was more of a pop culture reference."
Another short silence ensued.
I cautiously said, "Ummm...Star Wars isn't pop culture?"
"Well, okay, maybe if it was more of a family drama."
"It's literally nine movies about one family," said Karli.
More silence - and by the time we'd arrived at Steveston, by unspoken mutual agreement we'd moved on to less sensitive topics.
Regardless of the relatability of the simile, it pleases my science fiction fan heart to imagine tiny little X-wings preparing to do battle with the evil coronavirus - perhaps even a little Luke Skywalker, and the tiny voice of a miniature Obi-Wan Force ghost directing him to turn off his targeting computer and trust his feelings. And when the pandemic's finally all over, I think that we will all definitely deserve a medal from a princess.
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