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 June 8, 2021 - Deb Stambaugh, Hanover Rotary Club and Carol Ferguson, Pennsylvania Polio Survivors Network spoke at our weekly club meeting. They are both polio survivors and are living reminders of what a world without a vaccine looks like. The late effects of polio have put Carol in a leg brace and requires a cane for stability; She struggles to manage chronic pain and is dependent on a wheelchair for any distance walking. All because the now widely distributed vaccine came too late for me. For half of the 20th century, polio was affecting tens of thousands of children annually. Transmitted by person-to-person contact, polio’s lingering paralytic effects frightened anxious parents so much that people avoided gatherings altogether. Schools were closed, activities were paused. There was no vaccine, no cure, no hope for eradication. The children who were infected were ostracized in their community for fear of further spreading the disease. Compare that to today. Over the last year we have seen photos of lonely, frightened covid-19 patients looking out hospital windows. We have heard time and time again that the virus can spread even when the infected person has minimal or no symptoms. We have learned hospitals could be overwhelmed, forced to turn away those who need medical help. And yet, even though we have an effective solution many people are still “vaccine-hesitant.” At PPSN, the message on disease prevention is simple, positive and evidence-based: Vaccines work. Data suggests the covid-19 vaccine is no different. |