Essay Sample on You Choose: Vaccines or Medication
“Unlike most medicines, which are often used to treat a disease or infection, vaccines are developed to prevent them” explains Dr. Mona Kennedy, a doctor at Forward’s San Francisco location. With the world racing to introduce innovative and advanced methods to treat illness and disease, we may come across the common dilemma, which of these available solutions is more effective than the other? Medicines have existed in human society as long as sickness itself. However, with the advent of the modern pharmaceutical industry, biochemical approaches to either vaccinating or treating illness with medication have acquired a new level of prominence. Researchers at McGill University have pondered which solution is most effective when analyzing the different effects of treatments or prevention in regards to purpose, accessibility, purpose, and conditional circumstances. As both vaccines and medications function to protect humans from harm, the differences between the two are compelling.
Although both vaccines and medication are created with the purpose of protection against illnesses, each of them has a time and a place for use. Vaccines are biochemical formulations that offer immunity to a specific disease for a certain period. By administering a vaccine, the immune system is stimulated in ways that allow it to develop defenses against specific disease agents. The vaccine impersonates a pathogen to the immune system; it appears and behaves like a bacteria or virus, but it does not make the body sick. Their purpose consists of exposing an individual to a very weak strand of the disease in order to build natural immunity. Whereas medications are required to ease the symptoms and ultimately treat the outcomes of a particular disease after a person has already contracted it. If either consumed in a tablet, capsule, or liquid, they can cure by slowing down and eventually stopping the infection process. An inhibitor blocks a receptor that binds the pathogen to the healthy cell by preventing the virus from fusing with it. Scientifically, major differences exist in the physical properties of the two, yet they both function to promote health.
When looking at accessibility we can not overlook that medications are for the privileged and vaccines are far more obtainable. Since vaccines are aimed to control deadly and harmful diseases, they are required to be globally distributed, making them accessible to almost everyone. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has demonstrated the severity of the viral illness to the extent of 11.4 billion dosages administered globally at no cost. In contrast, medications given to unvaccinated patients were advanced respiratory support but only accessible depending on your socioeconomic status and ability to afford them. Healthcare is not universally free depending on the nation you reside in. Some may agree medications are more of a privilege as opposed to vaccines being more of a right.
Medicine can be perceived as conditional because it can be obtained in different dosages depending on the severity of the illness. The consumer’s body can react distinctively when ingesting medication because of differences in genetics, age, and gender, along with several other variables. Additionally, a medicine’s functionality may be altered by factors like prior prescriptions, underlying illnesses, and dietary habits. Due to this, vaccines are the better choice for some individuals because they have little to no association with other factors and are universally applied depending on the age group or when globally distributed. With vaccines like Hepatitis B and Polio, governments are providing their citizens with protection from harm. This not only demonstrates the simple accessibility of vaccines but also comes to show that the required dosages are all the same.
As the pharmaceutical industry protects society, it can be conflicting to determine which treatment is more effective. The differences can be minor yet impactful, like how the convenience, objective, and conditional circumstances all play a vital role in the outcome. As neither could be completely effective, it is natural to be concerned about risks. In regards to my position with respect to this continuous debate, it is rather obvious that vaccines are the better choice considering how they prevent the disease altogether. However, based on everything said, vaccines or medication— your choice.
