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Volunteering in a Vaccine Test Program

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Professor

Course

Date
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Volunteering in a Vaccine Test Program

Accepting to be a subject of a particular vaccine test seeking to identify the effectiveness

of treatment or cure requires a lot of consideration including the assessment of its risk factors and

benefits. If requested to volunteer as a test subject in medical research for a vaccine that seeks to

save the lives of many people, I would carefully assess the benefits and the potential risks before

making a decision. After being assured of my safety and well-being, I would volunteer in the

practice. Like in Kumar et al. (2022), safety is a critical factor to consider for any vaccine test

program. For instance, if the researchers assure my safety with zero long-term treats, based on

previous studies like in mice, I would be willing to participate in the vaccine test and save

millions of lives.

While accepting the opportunity for participation, I would also be careful about the

specific disease under study. When deciding on the type of disease to volunteer for a test, I

would also consider the potential risks and compare it with the significant impact on public

health and the entire society as shown in Kumar et al. (2022). An example of a disease I would

consider is COVID-19 because of its severe impact on millions of people across the world.

Volunteering to such a disease for vaccine tests would not only mean promoting scientific

research but saving millions of people. As such, I will be more willing to participate to help

leverage human suffering and save lives across the world. The decision towards vaccine

volunteering should also involve my family and friends' concerns. To make them aware of my

decision, I would emphasize the nature of the test and the importance of being involved in such a

program. I would tell them how the participation would contribute to scientific advancements

that benefit the entire society and advance medical knowledge. Family and friends will be
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willing to support my decision with the knowledge that the potential finding will lead to the cure

of the devastating diseases.

While my decision for the volunteering vaccine test in my teenage is positive, it might be

different if I grow older. If I were 65 years old, I would first consider my vulnerability to health

factors and life expectancy. Since elderly people have lower immune systems and I would also

wish to lead a peaceful life after retirement, I would be likely to decline the opportunity. Age is a

critical factor to consider when making any decision involving personal health (Brauning et al.,

2022). At an older age, an individual seems to be self-centered and considering personal health

due to a lowered immune system.

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References

Brauning, A., Rae, M., Zhu, G., Fulton, E., Admasu, T. D., Stolzing, A., & Sharma, A. (2022).

Aging of the immune system: focus on natural killer cells phenotype and

functions. Cells, 11(6), 1017. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11061017

Kumar, R., Srivastava, V., Baindara, P., & Ahmad, A. (2022). Thermostable vaccines: An

innovative concept in vaccine development. Expert Review of Vaccines, 21(6), 811-824.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2022.2053678