Vaccines are one of the very best inventions of mankind. They protect us from death and severe suffering and help us eradicate diseases and quell pandemics. Normally, it takes years of research to develop a working vaccine - but covid-19 has put an end to everything we knew before about vaccine research.

Barely eight months after the disease was discovered, more than 20 possible vaccines have already been tested on humans, and the first results are now beginning to fall in place.

May cause side effects

Cautiously promising, experts say, but it is far from certain that any of the vaccines will work. Many vaccine projects have failed throughout history, and it is only when the drugs are tested on larger groups of people that we will know how effective - and safe they are. In almost all cases.

Unfortunately, vaccines, like all other medicines, can have side effects. Although the mass vaccination against swine flu in the autumn of 2009 saved many lives, hundreds of Swedes, mainly children and young people, were also affected by an incurable neurological disease that will affect the rest of their lives.

The side effect, which is very rare, was impossible to predict in the clinical studies that were done on the vaccine before it was approved. It was only when the vaccine was given to millions of people that it was discovered. It is therefore not possible to guarantee that something similar will not happen again.

Risk must be weighed against benefit

This is the case with all medicines, and if a working vaccine against covid-19 is to be used, the risk must therefore be weighed against benefit.

The anti-vaccine movement is not very large in Sweden, but it does exist. In the United States, it is much stronger. Their criticism is directed, among other things, at one of the world's most proven vaccines given against measles, mumps and rubella - and at the HPV vaccine, which is also very well researched. Both vaccines have been given to hundreds of millions of people over the years and are considered very safe.

But the covid-19 vaccine will not have been tested on so many people if it is approved for use. It is therefore not surprising if some hesitate before taking the syringe, given what happened after the swine flu.

Vaccination is not only a way to protect oneself against disease - it is also an act of solidarity not to infect others.

The more promising vaccine results are presented, the greater the reason for our health authorities to consider not only who should receive the vaccine in the first place - but also how the risks and benefits of taking the syringe should be communicated.