Back on April 7, I got my first dose of the Moderna vaccine. I chose to do that because my wife works as a nurse at an assisted living center, and while I was confident of my immune system to resist COVID, I did not want to take the chance of causing someone else, especially someone elderly and with health issues, to catch the virus through my selfishness.
I still regard that decision as reasoned, based on the known facts and people my decision would affect, and without regard for who wanted me to get the shot.
That evening, what started as predictable arm soreness had spread across my shoulders and back, and I had body chills and felt very weak, with no appetite. I would contend that I suffered side effects from the vaccine, and while I did not require hospitalization, not being able to walk and being in constant pain for 12 hours would reasonably constitute significant side effects from the vaccine. Looking back, I had knee replacement surgery in January and likely my immune system was not as robust as I believed.
The side effects from my first shot naturally made me concerned about whether I should get the second dose, but the same conditions with my wife working to help people with compromised health conditions were still a fact, and it did not seem that just getting one dose would be effective against COVID when the clear direction was to get both, so on May 5, I got my second dose.
That evening, I again had body aches and chills, but not as severe as before and they only lasted for 4 or 5 hours. After May 6 I have not experienced any pains or concerns which I could say were caused by the vaccine.
I believe I can speak to some degree for both sides of the debate. There
are valid reasons to be concerned about vaccines which, for all the media hype, are still considered experimental by the FDA and which have affected thousand of people in ways ranging from mild discomfort to serious health issues, to death. I will say that again - there are people who died from the vaccine. Not many relative to the general population, but thousands of people.
https://undercurrents723949620.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/how-many-have-died-from-covid-vaccines/https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.htmlBut that brings me back to the total population. The risk of side effects from the vaccine is statistically small, and if you do experience side effects, they are likely to be mild, and even - as in my case - if there are significant side effects they are unlikely to require hospitalization or have permanent consequences.
And of course, we have to weigh the risk of vaccine side effects to the risk of not taking the vaccine. As we are seeing, new COVID cases are showing up pretty much just among the people who did not get vaccinated, and those who did get COVID after vaccination are suffering much milder symptoms than those who did not. And the number of active COVID cases in the United States right now is 34.6 million.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-homeSo by reasonable measures, we should be able to say that the average person is better off getting vaccinated for COVID.
Ultimately, I believe the most reasonable course a person can take is to read up on all the facts, then consult their personal doctor if they still have concerns. There are valid reasons to be concerned for some folks, but it's also important to understand that just because something is reported somewhere does not mean that you will experience it yourself.
I also believe the CDC needs to understand the difference between lab doctors and practicing physicians. When you want to change public behavior, you need to win over people, not treat them like lab rats without a choice. Fauci's dishonesty about masks is a good example.
Early last year, Fauci came out and said that masks did not really make a difference. He later reversed himself, strongly recommended masks for everyone, and said that he said that out of fear of a run on masks which might make it hard for doctors and nurses to get the masks they needed, but this was an incredibly stupid statement. Fauci admitted he lied to the public, and regardless of the motive it opened him up to doubt from that point on. Fauci's arrogant attitude, especially post-Trump, also puts off a lot of people and - I think - is causing some people to resist cooperating with CDC recommendations because of the
way the message is sent.
At this point I believe government needs to understand that the word 'require' in connection with masks will hurt compliance. A rising number of people are refusing to wear masks now, precisely because we were told last year only a few weeks would be necessary. Whether or not masks are helpful in preventing the spread in the general public is irrelevant if anger over masks is causing some people to refuse to get the vaccine.
If the CDC really wants people to get vaccinated in the 90% range, they need to win over public support, not act like people have no choice. And political leaders - on both sides - should shut the hell up. Making the vaccines political, as Biden/Harris did last year, was incredibly stupid and the only way to recover from that is to stop pretending this is East freaking Germany.
People are going to choose for themselves. Your job, feds, is to provide facts and work to
persuade, not coerce.
End of rant.
That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier
