What would you have done?

[dvcgirl67]

I don't know anyone who had a worse time with the vaccine than with covid itself. The worst is my sister, who says it feels like having covid for a day, which is much better than the 10 days of misery she had with actual infection (pre-vaccine).

Same, I know one person who had a reaction to the very first shot, which is all she's had. That's it. I know countless people who have gotten the vaccine.

 

[leahgoogle]

I don't know anyone who had a worse time with the vaccine than with covid itself. The worst is my sister, who says it feels like having covid for a day, which is much better than the 10 days of misery she had with actual infection (pre-vaccine).

Anecdotal, I do. Quite a few actually.

 

[Disneychick13]

I think you have to understand how public health works. They are trying to *safely* deliver immunity as quickly as they can in a controlled manner. Public health officials would prefer that you receive a vaccine that they are highly confident delivers immunity in a safe manner. When someone gets the virus itself, especially someone who is older or younger and compromised in some way.....your body is going to have to fight back the virus on its own. Not all people survive that process. Many, many more of those people do....if they receive the vaccine and not the virus.

81% of the U.S population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. This is why, with a covid wave, like we're experiencing now, covid hospitalizations have risen by 20%, but deaths are still the lowest they've been since the beginning of the pandemic. That's because our older population....received the vaccine.

I don’t disagree with what you said. But that wasn’t the point of what I wrote. My point was that governmental agencies/businesses/etc didn’t acknowledge that previous infection conferred immunity by their policies. I totally understand what the goal of public health is. Wanting people to get a vaccine to acquire immunity as opposed to getting infected is one thing. But once someone already had Covid (Already had. As in previous infection had) what did it matter if they got a vaccine?

 

[DisneyOma]

I don’t disagree with what you said. But that wasn’t the point of what I wrote. My point was that governmental agencies/businesses/etc didn’t acknowledge that previous infection conferred immunity by their policies. I totally understand what the goal of public health is. Wanting people to get a vaccine to acquire immunity as opposed to getting infected is one thing. But once someone already had Covid (Already had. As in previous infection had) what did it matter if they got a vaccine?

Oh, oh!!!! I can answer this one!

First off, the vaccine does not provide immunity. It provides a defense response ready to attack.
Second, as the virus mutated, they altered the vaccine to give the newer variants better coverage. So if you got COVID early on, you might not have been all that immune to the new variants but the vaccine would have bolstered your immune response.

 

[hrhdhd]

Oh, oh!!!! I can answer this one!

First off, the vaccine does not provide immunity. It provides a defense response ready to attack.

Well, sure--using the stealth modified definition of vaccine after the CDC realized that the vaccine didn't fully protect against COVID.

"Before September 1, 2021, the CDC defined a vaccine as “A product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease” (emphasis added). Now, however, the CDC states a vaccine is merely “A preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases” (emphasis added).

Vaccination was previously defined as “The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease,” but currently it is simply “The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce protection from a specific disease” (emphasis added)."

(Source of quote John Locke Foundation; edited to correct typo)

 

[leahgoogle]

You should be far more concerned about long covid than any side effects from the vaccine. The mRNA vaccine does not stay in your body.....it doesn't even enter your cells, it simply teaches your immune system to recognize SARS COV2, and exits. This is a fact....we know this. It liiterally instructs our immune system how to fight it....without our bodies going into a full-force immune response that many with diminished immune systems can't survive.

But...you're never going to try and understand the science behind it. You've made up your mind, which is fine. Your use of the term "main stream media" tells me that you have a deep mistrust in our government. Conspiracy theories are all the rage these days. But what you're spreading is disinformation. And this kind of thinking may harm you in the future....because you may need lots of different medications as you age, and now you have a genuine distrust in science. I was a critical care nurse for over a decade, and I trust doctors and science. So...we're not likely to agree on any of this. Which is fine of course....it's what makes the world go around.

We will agree to disagree. And, I do fully understand the science behind it. I have a nursing degree as well, so I am able to research and understand the science. I am 48 and not on any medication. Maybe I will need to be in the future, but I will definitely not blindly follow recommendations without researching them first. I trusted my doctor when he said not to take the shot. There are actually brave doctors who aren't afraid to tell low-risk people who acquired natural immunity before the shot came out that the shot is not necessary. Spike proteins from the shot have been found everywhere in the body. They linger for longer than the experts said they would. This has been admitted. It has caused brain and heart inflammation. The shot has also caused full-force immune responses before even getting covid that can't be resolved. These people have had their lives ruined. Nothing I have posted is disinformation. You just have to go beyond your bubble to find it. Most people that didn't take the shot have researched extensively including international studies. We are not just willy-nilly refusing the shot. So, you can keep getting boosted and I will stick with my natural immunity and hopefully both of us will be ok.

 

[Disneychick13]

Oh, oh!!!! I can answer this one!

First off, the vaccine does not provide immunity. It provides a defense response ready to attack.
Second, as the virus mutated, they altered the vaccine to give the newer variants better coverage. So if you got COVID early on, you might not have been all that immune to the new variants but the vaccine would have bolstered your immune response.

Again, not my original point. I understand the concept that as the Covid vaccines are updated they will provide better coverage against variants. Like the flu vaccine, they will not be suited to every variant and, since the Covid virus rapidly mutates, each vaccine will be quickly obsolete. It will be always be a cat and mouse game of getting vaccines and/or getting Covid and building various levels of protection.

My point was that when there were vaccine mandates, whether it be the military or to go on a cruise or to be in school or to eat at a restaurant, they didn’t care if you got boosted. So if you got vaccinated in January 2021 or got Covid in January 2021 you would have had some level of protection. But those entities only recognized one of them as valid Immunity to Covid. I mean those are the facts. There is no disputing them.

 

[sam_gordon]

81% of the U.S population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. This is why, with a covid wave, like we're experiencing now, covid hospitalizations have risen by 20%, but deaths are still the lowest they've been since the beginning of the pandemic. That's because our older population....received the vaccine.

Couldn't it also mean the virus has mutated to a "not as lethal" version?

 

[dvcgirl67]

Couldn't it also mean the virus has mutated to a "not as lethal" version?

So far no…some strains have been more transmissible than the original strain. Some caused more serious disease than the original strain. But none have been less lethal than the original strain. The difference is we’re almost all vaccinated….those who did not get the vaccine were likely infected.

But if the whole pandemic were to start over…with this strain, just as many would have died

 

[leahgoogle]

Couldn't it also mean the virus has mutated to a "not as lethal" version?

Yes, exactly. According to the CDC (if you look to them for info), "The current omicron variant has been generally found to be milder than its predecessors, leading to less severe symptoms and fewer deaths".

 

[dvcgirl67]

Yes, exactly. According to the CDC (if you look to them for info), "The current omicron variant has been generally found to be milder than its predecessors, leading to less severe symptoms and fewer deaths".

It’s confusing that you don’t trust the CDC… until you do.

The CDC said this…late in 2021…when most of us were vaccinated and/or had been infected. They were talking about the course of the infection….being mild in most people…because they had protection.

 

[Disneychick13]

So far no…some strains have been more transmissible than the original strain. Some caused more serious disease than the original strain. But none have been less lethal than the original strain. The difference is we’re almost all vaccinated….those who did not get the vaccine were likely infected.

But if the whole pandemic were to start over…with this strain, just as many would have died

So that’s just not true. As the virus has mutated it has become less lethal. And not just because of immunity. The virus itself/how it affects the body has changed. That’s not to say that a mutated strain might appear the that will be more lethal, but right now the circulating strains are not as lethal as some of the earlier strains (pre-omicron).

 

[sam_gordon]

So far no…some strains have been more transmissible than the original strain. Some caused more serious disease than the original strain. But none have been less lethal than the original strain. The difference is we’re almost all vaccinated….those who did not get the vaccine were likely infected.

But if the whole pandemic were to start over…with this strain, just as many would have died

Ok, please provide your proof that the ONLY reason fewer are dying is vaccinations.

 

[dvcgirl67]

So that’s just not true. As the virus has mutated it has become less lethal. And not just because of immunity. The virus itself/how it affects the body has changed. That’s not to say that a mutated strain might appear the that will be more lethal, but right now the circulating strains are not as lethal as some of the earlier strains (pre-omicron).

The virus is mutating to try and get around the immunity we have from vaccines and infection. It’s less lethal to us because we have developed immunity..due to vaccination, prior infection…or both. But make no mistake , this virus…all viruses are trying to get into a host, replicate…and spread to another host.

The original “common cold”
Is a coronavirus….like SARS COV2. Over thousands and thousands of years…it’s mutated but the humans who survived developed immunity to it …and the many mutations it developed…and now it’s the sniffles.

Eventually, covid will be the sniffles. We’ll get there lightyears faster…because of the vaccine, and advanced medical care.

 

[Disneychick13]

The virus is mutating to try and get around the immunity we have from vaccines and infection. It’s less lethal to us because we have developed immunity..due to vaccination, prior infection…or both. But make no mistake , this virus…all viruses are trying to get into a host, replicate…and spread to another host.

The original “common cold”
Is a coronavirus….like SARS COV2. Over thousands and thousands of years…it’s mutated but the humans who survived developed immunity to it …and the many mutations it developed…and now it’s the sniffles.

Eventually, covid will be the sniffles. We’ll get there lightyears faster…because of the vaccine, and advanced medical care.

What you are saying is just false. The Covid virus has mutated in ways that it affects the lungs of individuals differently than earlier strains. Earlier strains were more easily able to invade the lower respiratory tract causing more severe disease.

Viruses mutate for many reasons, not just to evade immunity.

 

[dvcgirl67]

What you are saying is just false. The Covid virus has mutated in ways that it affects the lungs of individuals differently than earlier strains. Earlier strains were more easily able to invade the lower respiratory tract causing more severe disease.

Viruses mutate for many reasons, not just to evade immunity.

Yes, I understand that Omicron caused less severe illness individual to individual. But another series of mutations made Omicron the most transmissible virus and so it spread much faster than any variants before it. And so it was just as deadly....because a slightly weaker, yet more transmissible virus reaches many more people.

And if those people are unvaccinated, older and vaccinated...but didn't get a booster in the fall of 22 like many of us did, or just old and weak....they died in massive numbers. So, my point is that while Omicron did not make people as sick as the original strain did....it would have been just as deadly, probably more so than the original strain because it would have gone around the world in lightning speed due to it's transmissibility.

From the original strain, Alpha was 40% more likely to cause severe disease and Delta twice as much as Alpha....and both were equally as transmissible as the original strain. Just because Omicron had slightly less severe disease, it doesn't mean that the next variant won't revert back to a virus that causes disease as severe as Delta. We're 4 years in.....and a long, long way from "the sniffles".

 

[john7994]

Less lethal is a tricky measure - considering many factors - did the most vulnerable already die, is resistance up (vaccinated or otherwise), are treatments once infected more effective now than before, are people finally washing their hands more (ewww), transmissibility (masks or otherwise), are people more careful when exposed - the OPs question (some I suppose), passive tracking and alerting, and are the variants changing etc etc etc - doesn’t mean it will always be this way (I.e current spike in hospitalizations).

Lots of pseudo scientists and science to sift through. Disturbing to think on the other hand that some may be rooting for the mRNA vaccines to cause cancer and other long-term health effects so they can be “right” - but it does tells me how far gone our society is today - which is FAR more detrimental to our future tbh … but not surprised anymore.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Less lethal is a tricky measure - considering many factors - did the most vulnerable already die, is resistance up (vaccinated or otherwise), are treatments once infected more effective now than before, are people finally washing their hands more (ewww), transmissibility (masks or otherwise), are people more careful when exposed - the OPs question (some I suppose), passive tracking and alerting, and are the variants changing etc etc etc - doesn’t mean it will always be this way (I.e current spike in hospitalizations).

Lots of pseudo scientists and science to sift through. Disturbing to think on the other hand that some may be rooting for the mRNA vaccines to cause cancer and other long-term health effects so they can be “right” - but it does tells me how far gone our society is today - which is FAR more detrimental to our future tbh … but not surprised anymore.

Oh....without question, the distrust in science and vaccines that has been sown throughout this pandemic is probably more dangerous than the virus itself and will impact public health for generations. Public health comes from a place that we all need to be in it together....but that ship has sailed.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Exactly. There was no reason for us to be bullied and threatened with job termination for a vaccine that we didn’t feel the risk was worth the benefit and obviously didn’t stop transmission. Thankfully religious exceptions were granted.

I’m not anti vax. I’m pro being able to make your own medical decisions. I do get a little bitter about the stress it put on my kids and family.

Seems like your stress was self inflicted to prove a point?

 

[john7994]

Oh....without question, the distrust in science and vaccines that has been sown throughout this pandemic is probably more dangerous than the virus itself and will impact public health for generations. Public health comes from a place that we all need to be in it together....but that ship has sailed.

I think that ship sailed and sunk before the pandemic tbh - there is no more “we” anymore - everything has become an excuse to identify the “they”. Whether science, government, or otherwise, it’s become an opportunity to justify more selfishness and hate.