Are you willing to get the Covid vaccine when offered? (10 Viewers)

[dtc]

I highly doubt that an antivaxer is going to say…wow, seeing these people mock the death of this lady has completely changed my prospective on vaccines. I’ve dealt with anti science and anti medicine types for over a decade and I’ve been semi successful at finding a common ground, but only through caring and respect. I suppose it’s not as fun though, lol

I am not the most caring and cuddly guy if you hadn't noticed. I mean I do care, but I'm not going to grovel and whine to convince someone to do what's in their best interest all too often. It's like when someone builds their own house or hires a cheap contractor and then come to me later looking for help, it's funny and while I'll give them advice, it comes with a fee or whatever cost is necessary to alleviate the issue.

THere's no discount for being an idiot nor is there going to be much empathy from me when attempting to convince someone to get a vaccination that you, as a physician, have advised them to do.

Take the advice of experts you trust. Refuse that advice at your own peril and always remember that one of the perils is the ridicule of those like me who find ignorance and stupidity worthy offenses for ridicule.

 

[Sailorsaint]

My take....if you can't convince a flat earther that the earth is a globe, you aren't going to convince an anti-vaxxer that the vaccine is safe.

 

[Saint_Ward]

Completely different circumstances, but my wife believes the hormone therapy is related to her breast cancer. She's not a physician and while I think your wife is and know you are, it's worth considering. Her actual doctors have instructed her not to start it again and, yes, she had similar symptoms to those your wife experienced, but not due to the covid vax. They were related in time to the hormones.

Interestingly, a med they can give post menopausal women with breast cancer is Anastrozole, which basically lowers estrogen levels.

So, I could imagine, HR+ early breast cancer risk would increase with estrogen therapy.

 

[St. Widge]

Speaking of adding more booster/vaccinations:

"We can't vaccinate the planet every six months," says Covid-19 vaccine creator

More than 100,000 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 in the US for the first time in nearly four months, data shows. Follow here for the latest news updates.

www.cnn.com

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I'm curious what his reasoning is for the idea that we can't keep vaccinating everyone possible every 6 months? Is it some concern with the build up of doses? Just a cost issue? The ability to produce that much vaccine? The logistics? A specific issue for the NHS in the U.K.?

If it's a health concern it's one thing. But, if it's just a cost/logistics/ability to produce issue, I don't see the issue with treating it like the flu vaccine only with a vaccine tailored to a specific variant every 6 months rather than every year. I mean, I get that it might not be possible everywhere, but that's one of those advantages of living in the more developed nations. Maybe that's not fair, but it is reality.

And, maybe with further research, they can reduce the need for boosters/tailored vaccines to only once per year or less. It just seems likely that COVID isn't going away and we are going to end up having to treat it with at least yearly vaccines just like the flu and maybe adopt the Asian habit of wearing masks when sick and/or during winter. But, like the flu vaccine there will be breakthrough infections. I just hope that the strains are generally on the milder side.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I'm curious what his reasoning is for the idea that we can't keep vaccinating everyone possible every 6 months? Is it some concern with the build up of doses? Just a cost issue? The ability to produce that much vaccine? The logistics? A specific issue for the NHS in the U.K.?

If it's a health concern it's one thing. But, if it's just a cost/logistics/ability to produce issue, I don't see the issue with treating it like the flu vaccine only with a vaccine tailored to a specific variant every 6 months rather than every year. I mean, I get that it might not be possible everywhere, but that's one of those advantages of living in the more developed nations. Maybe that's not fair, but it is reality.

And, maybe with further research, they can reduce the need for boosters/tailored vaccines to only once per year or less. It just seems likely that COVID isn't going away and we are going to end up having to treat it with at least yearly vaccines just like the flu and maybe adopt the Asian habit of wearing masks when sick and/or during winter. But, like the flu vaccine there will be breakthrough infections. I just hope that the strains are generally on the milder side.

I think its all of the above. We still have pockets of the world that have yet to get 1 shot coverage across their populations, so maybe prioritize that first. Also seems to think it might be medically unnecessary except for vulnerable populations. Vaccines are not without some side effects and can create some non-zero amount of harm, which becomes a closer call with milder disease.

Personally I am wrestling with what to do with my college daughter - she had symptomatic COVID last spring, then was double vaxxed this summer, and now just tested positive again with basically zero symptoms. She also had mono last month. The idea that she needs a booster after being double vaxxed and twice infected in less than 12 months .... I would kind of like to give her immune system a break.

 

[Arathrael]

You’re correct. Israel had plans for a second booster but halted plans after Omicron was suspected to be less severe and the question about vaccine efficiency against the new variants.

Israel only paused plans, they're going ahead with it for older people and healthcare workers as we speak: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/04/israel-embarks-on-fourth-covid-vaccination-campaign

 

[Arathrael]

I'm curious what his reasoning is for the idea that we can't keep vaccinating everyone possible every 6 months? Is it some concern with the build up of doses? Just a cost issue? The ability to produce that much vaccine? The logistics? A specific issue for the NHS in the U.K.?

If it's a health concern it's one thing. But, if it's just a cost/logistics/ability to produce issue, I don't see the issue with treating it like the flu vaccine only with a vaccine tailored to a specific variant every 6 months rather than every year. I mean, I get that it might not be possible everywhere, but that's one of those advantages of living in the more developed nations. Maybe that's not fair, but it is reality.

And, maybe with further research, they can reduce the need for boosters/tailored vaccines to only once per year or less. It just seems likely that COVID isn't going away and we are going to end up having to treat it with at least yearly vaccines just like the flu and maybe adopt the Asian habit of wearing masks when sick and/or during winter. But, like the flu vaccine there will be breakthrough infections. I just hope that the strains are generally on the milder side.

He's a bit vague about it in the interview. He does say:

Pollard feels that the comparison with flu vaccines is “not an unreasonable way to look at it” – but the difference is that flu is seasonal, whereas Covid doesn’t appear to have settled into a seasonal pattern so far – there was plenty of delta over the summer.​

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I'm not entirely convinced about that rationale myself, I'd think there's a case for further vaccination as long as there's a benefit in terms of preventing illness, not just deaths, and I don't think seasonality would necessarily negate that. The focus on preventing solely deaths seems to have become increasingly blinkered with Covid. Generally we care about other outcomes too.

And then he goes on to talk about the importance of global vaccination, which perhaps suggests he thinks further shots in well off nations hinders that. Perhaps, but I don't think that has to be inevitable. Or, conversely, if it is inevitable, I don't think not providing further vaccinations locally will suddenly cause wealthy nations to step up in terms of global vaccinations.

 

[sammymvpknight]

Israel only paused plans, they're going ahead with it for older people and healthcare workers as we speak: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/04/israel-embarks-on-fourth-covid-vaccination-campaign

Yeah…I’d love to see the science supporting fourth vaccination. The evidence for the booster is already pretty questionable in my opinion. I suppose if someone is very frail and the booster was >6 months ago I suppose I can even entertain the argument.

 

[DaveXA]

I tell ya I hear this a lot. I do feel sorry for her. I won't claim to know where it started, or who started it, but this covid thing being politicized is terrible. Left blames right, right blames left. People are sick and are dying. Minds are closed. I hate where we are as a country right now. She more than likely felt like she had to speak out against it because she needs the support of the right. If covid had not been politicized it wouldn't be a talking point and I bet more people would be vaccinated right now. I lost a friend over me getting a vaccine. He has said it to mutual friends that he knows people think he is going crazy by the constant badgering he does, but he can't stop himself. I just find it sad.

Fair and good comments.

While I think politics plays into a lot of it, there have long been antivaxxers around, Covid just gave them a huge opportunity to get their message mainstream, and they weaponized politics to suit their needs.

That said, I think you have people like the lady in this example, who I think played politics and bought into the antivax myths out there.

I think the reason I have little sympathy for her in particular is she should know better. She has access to the same data that most of us do and she deliberately ignored the data. If she didn't have that access, then I could maybe understand. But I'm skeptical.

The thing is, we're at a point where it's well-known that getting vaccinated will protect most from the worst effects of Covid and does reduce the overall rate of spread.

It just drive me nuts that people in positions of power and influence continue to spew nonsense about the vaccines and use that influence to prevent people from making educated decisions on their health.

This never should have been politicized to begin with, but I firmly believe the antivax movement, which was already gaining traction by infiltrating health and wellness culture and telling people that vaccines are unnatural and detrimental to health and they really started to make inroads in some political circles, which over time started to get traction in the mainstream media. Covid just accelerated all of that.

I used to think antivaxxers were a very small subgroup of people, but it turned out they're a much larger group than I previously realized. Really all political parties should have made an effort to debunk the myths out there, but that effort was weak at best.

 

[brandon8283]

I would kind of like to give her immune system a break.

This is the kinda stuff that irks me. You’re trying to personify the needs of the immune system with what a person who is tired would need.

Your immune system doesn’t need a “break.” It needs practice, preferably against dummy targets rather than live bullets. The best chance for reducing immune system pressure is to give it the blueprint for easy victories and not letting it forget the blueprint.

Your immune system fights off millions of germs every single day. You might as well give it the target practice for the ones that can actually do damage.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

I used to think antivaxxers were a very small subgroup of people, but it turned out they're a much larger group than I previously realized. Really all political parties should have made an effort to debunk the myths out there, but that effort was weak at best.

It was a very small group. The politicalization of this is the reason it is no longer small.

 

[DaveXA]

It was a very small group. The politicalization of this is the reason it no longer is small.

Indeed, but I think that happened more because anti-vaxxers inserted themselves into the political sphere more than they had previously. They needed and found a malleable audience, I'll say that much.

 

[RaginCajun83]

Well tested positive Monday, on five day quarantine and I’m going retest on Friday and not working this week

 

[DaveXA]

Well tested positive Monday, on five day quarantine and I’m going retest on Friday and not working this week

Hopefully it's a mild case. Take care man.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

This is the kinda stuff that irks me. You’re trying to personify the needs of the immune system with what a person who is tired would need.

Your immune system doesn’t need a “break.” It needs practice, preferably against dummy targets rather than live bullets. The best chance for reducing immune system pressure is to give it the blueprint for easy victories and not letting it forget the blueprint.

Your immune system fights off millions of germs every single day. You might as well give it the target practice for the ones that can actually do damage.

I understand all that. In her case, her immune system has taken 2 live rounds of COVID and a full course of vaccination in less than 12 months. She doesn't just have the blueprints, they're tattooed on her face. She's still in isolation from round 2. I'm not saying I won't get her a booster, but I am weighing the decision differently than I would've 12 months ago.

I mean there is a reason they don't give you both jabs of pfizer within 6 hours and a reason why they won't vaccinate someone within 90 days of anitbody treatments.