Analogies, metaphors, similes, and the like are evocative and memorable and help transform the abstract into the concrete. Unfortunately, a lot of the ideas we link to COVID-19 vaccines don’t totally hit the mark and skate over one of the greatest benefits of immunization: a boost in wellness at the community level, by cutting down on transmission and, by extension, illness for everyone else. For immunization to truly pack a punch, we all have to do it. The point isn’t really to converge on the perfect vaccine analogy. I’m not sure one exists; no single comparison can speak to all questions, concerns, and enthusiasms about vaccination. Most people don’t have to think about the many shots they received as children, because those immunizations successfully tamed a threat. When vaccines work, people stop noticing them.
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