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How the COVID-19 Pandemic and Anti-Vaxxers Made Me Remember the Great Louis Pasteur

It has been some time since I got vaccinated for COVID-19. Yes, we're achieving herd immunity. Yet, what truly bothered me in 2020 was the rise of the anti-vaxxers. There was even this crazy British conspiracy theorist named Kate Sheminari. During the pandemic, I decided to do a review of Louis Pasteur himself. Today, we have the Institut Pasteur in France, an international center for biomedical research. One may say that Edward Jenner was the man behind vaccination. True, we had Jenner and his fight against smallpox. We might as well discuss Louis Pasteur, the man whose name is used for the word pasteurization. 


I remembered watching a cartoon about Pasteur himself. It's often easy to credit Pasteur for milk. That's why I decided to get some milk tea after every vaccination. However, we need to credit Pasteur for the use of the attenuated microbes. It's said that his first vaccine used on humans was the rabies vaccine. Meanwhile, the experiment started with chicken and sheep. We always say we've got a herd of sheep. We often use the words flock and herd interchangeably. I guess that's why we use the term "herd immunity" for that reason. Pasteur vaccinated some sheep with the anthrax vaccine and some chickens with the cholera vaccine. Eventually, Pasteur decided to try and save a certain Joseph Meister with his first human vaccine. 

Pasteur had to face a lot of ridicule concerning his study of disease. Today, we've got the anti-vaxxers and the proponents of raw milk. Raw milk is practically dangerous even if the milk wasn't produced through animal cruelty. I really wouldn't drink raw milk, not especially with all the diseases associated with it. Pasteur was a man who was born during a time of disease. Pasteur lost three children to typhoid fever. That's why Pasteur pursued his studies. Over time, Pasteur's discoveries would lead to the future development of vaccines. The use of attenuated germs was the start of the vaccination program.

Watching some documentaries about Pasteur was helpful. It gave me hope that a COVID-19 vaccine would be created. Today, we've got the mRNA vaccine used. Still, one should always thank Pasteur's discovery of attenuated for that. mRNA or messenger ribonucleic acid of the virus to help the body identify. Institut Pasteur has adopted the mRNA. If Pasteur were alive today, he'd still accept mRNA vaccines. Pasteur would still recommend the COVID-19 vaccine. 

That's why I felt like getting a cup of dairy products after vaccination. I always felt celebrating my three vaccine shots with milk tea or a milk shake. It was to reward myself for facing the needle after many years I haven't been injected. Pasteur's discoveries would evolve beyond his grave. There are now modern methods of pasteurization and vaccine production. It's all because of this brave young scientist. Screw over the anti-vaxxers. Vaccination and pasteurization works!

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