I was listening to "The Daily" podcast about whether people will take a Covid vaccine when it arrives. Have a listen -- it was fascinating.

Now, going into it I knew that no way no how am I taking a Covid vaccine any time soon. I figured everyone else would feel differently, they would get the vaccine, and I would get one much later if at all.

As it turns out, a recent poll shows that 50% of people say they will not take the vaccine. There are three reasons:

1. People do not trust this Administration to oversee development of a vaccine. This is one of my main concerns. We have already been lied to plenty about the pandemic, and it isn't just Trump who has given out incorrect information. The CDC lost a lot of credibility with me when they knew that encouraging healthy people to wear masks would help stop the spread but withheld the recommendation so people wouldn't panic buy masks. I understand the motivation, but if the CDC will do that with masks, they also might make a recommendation about a vaccine for reasons other than the science.

2. People do not trust any project to develop a vaccine called "Warp Speed." It takes a long time to develop a safe and effective vaccine, and no one wants a rush job. This is especially so since researchers have been trying to develop an HIV vaccine for decades with no luck. This is also one of my main concerns.

3. Some people are straight up anti-vaxxers or are otherwise not into science. Nothing you can do with those people. But there is a substantial number of people who are not anti-vaxxers (in other words, they get all of your usual vaccines like tetanus and shingles), but who refuse the covid vaccine for reasons 1 and 2.

You would need 75-85 percent of people to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, which isn't attainable if 50% of people will refuse the vaccine completely.

Anyway, right now the issue is entirely theoretical, 'cause there is no vaccine.

But I do wonder whether the risk of another wave of Covid suggests it makes more or less sense to get a shingles vaccine. I'm not sure if this is a good time to be challenging my immune system . . .

I will take the vaccine without hesitation. You don't need herd immunity if you have an effective vaccine. Get the vaccine and you are immune, despite whatever the herd is doing. The anti-vac stuff circulating is mostly from the same anti-vac folks who think vaccines cause autism. Buch of bunk.

jf

Yeah, I am very pro-vaccine, and I am concerned about #1 and #2...

We’ll see, I need more info — well and the vaccine has to actually be out — before I make up my mind.

I am not among those who think the vaccine is part of a conspiracy perpetrated by Bill Gates and Faucci to microchip everyone

quote:

Originally posted by Jack Frost:
The anti-vac stuff circulating is mostly from the same anti-vac folks who think vaccines cause autism.

It has come out recently that a lot of the anti-vax stuff out there comes from state-sponsored misinformation campaigns from governments that want to fvck with the west. The same ones that inflame racial and political divisions and fvck with elections in the west.

As long as its not live virus, the risks of any vaccine that even makes it through phase 2 clinical trials will be WAY lower than the risk of getting Covid.

And the people who refuse the vaccine are consigning themselves to eventually getting it.

Oh, and the vast majority of the existing candidates are not live virus (which is good, I can’t take those anyway)

It’s easy to sniff at number 3.

No. 1 and 2 are no joke.

And now the CDC is thinking re-opening schools is ok and backing away from their own guidelines?

If they said the vaccine was safe and effective, who would believe them?

Last I checked Covid-19 hadn’t been cleared for safety either. Especially long term.

If 99% of people were going to get vaccinated, free riding would be an option.

When it’s 50%, the ride is no longer free. It’s a question of choosing your risk.

And then there’s my selfish take: Sweet! Shorter line for the rest of us!

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
And then there’s my selfish take: Sweet! Shorter line for the rest of us!

Jon, I understand your take on this. If I were in your situation and faced the level of risk you do, I would probably also get the vaccine.

But do you understand why so many people who are vaccine compliant have no faith in this effort?

Also, if you are told the vaccine is effective and it turns out not to be, you would actually be worse off. You’d get a vaccine you are told will protect you, you emerge from isolation and go about your life among throngs of unvaccinated people, and you get the disease you have worked so hard to avoid.

My point is that the botched PR is bad for all of us. I too would like to see a safe and effective Covid vaccine, and I would get it, like I have had every recommended vaccine except flu.

Sometimes I'm inclined to let stupid people commit self harm. The problem here, of course, is the social benefits of herd immunity to people who cannot get the vaccines for reasons they cannot control.

So I'll combine my schadenfreude at the preventable suffering and death experienced by people I consider stupid buffoons, while luxuriating in my moral superiority over them ...

quote:

so many people who are vaccine compliant have no faith in this effort

That would be me. And, in addition to all the other vaccines, I get a flu shot every year etc.

But I want to be confident that any Covid vaccine isn’t going to harm me. I hope that by the time there’s a vaccine, and I actually have access to getting it, that I will feel confident in it.

Right now, I’m worried about the process and have zero confidence in anything with Trump’s fingerprint on it.

Cindy, there are dozens of reputable research organizations working very hard to produce a range of safe and effective vaccines. I understand your general point that our current government has made a hash of things, including public trust in institutions. But wallowing in atavistic distrust seems rather counterproductive. The Oxford team isn't being overseen by DJT's lackeys. The Moderna team is overseen by Fauci's lab. All seem to be operating within decent checks and scientific overview. Any results will be checked and verified. And if at the end of the day, people want to run into their cellars, that's their choice. Mistakes can and do happen, even in "normal" times. I'll evaluate the risk/reward tradeoff and make my choice. You'll make yours.