Vaccine Hesitancy

[Dave Gray]

I don't really know what to say about this, other than I find the whole thing frustrating.

I know that there's going to be a certain amount of the population that just outright refuses to do anything with vaccines...there's a type.  I was expecting that.

What I wasn't expecting is the absolute cavalier attitude of so many people who just don't seem to put a priority on it.  When I ask them, they're "waiting for things to shake out" or "still deciding".

I have an older woman at work, who probably doesn't even have health insurance -- and I don't know that she'll even get the vaccine, but she's definitely not actively seeking it out.  She's just setting herself up for failure and it's frustrating to sit by as a friend and watch her potentially destroy herself.

There's also an additional level of frustration with the community.  I want to have a thriving economy of people with confidence to be normal and spend money and do things.  And if (aside from outliers) everyone did their part, we'd be over and done with this virus for good.  It's just frustrating and I needed to voice it.

I'm not an "I gots mines" kinda guy.  ...so, I'll be fine.  But jeez...so tough to watch people do things that go against what's best for them and for us as a whole.

[Tenshot13]

I don't really know what to say about this, other than I find the whole thing frustrating.

I know that there's going to be a certain amount of the population that just outright refuses to do anything with vaccines...there's a type.  I was expecting that.

What I wasn't expecting is the absolute cavalier attitude of so many people who just don't seem to put a priority on it.  When I ask them, they're "waiting for things to shake out" or "still deciding".

I have an older woman at work, who probably doesn't even have health insurance -- and I don't know that she'll even get the vaccine, but she's definitely not actively seeking it out.  She's just setting herself up for failure and it's frustrating to sit by as a friend and watch her potentially destroy herself.

There's also an additional level of frustration with the community.  I want to have a thriving economy of people with confidence to be normal and spend money and do things.  And if (aside from outliers) everyone did their part, we'd be over and done with this virus for good.  It's just frustrating and I needed to voice it.

I'm not an "I gots mines" kinda guy.  ...so, I'll be fine.  But jeez...so tough to watch people do things that go against what's best for them and for us as a whole.

Other than the "microchip" and "it changes my DNA" crowd, it seems there a lot of people who are cautious about how quickly the vaccines came out and didn't have the longevity of testing other vaccines have.  I get it.  I decided to go ahead and get my shot because I think I'll be fine and I get to go back into the world without much to worry about, but I understand why people don't want to get it.

[Pappy13]

Dave, first let me say that I agree with you that everyone should get vaccinated, but let me try to play devil's advocate for a minute here.

I've read that as much as 40% of the population will have no symptoms from getting Covid-19 and another 40% may only have mild symptoms. That's 80% of those infected that would have mild or no symptoms at all and that's only of those infected. When you consider that many people have been vaccinated already the chances that you either get Covid-19 or that you develop anything more than mild symptoms from it are pretty low. The fact that the chances that you develop mild symptoms from getting the vaccine are pretty high, I don't see how you can't see why some people are reluctant to get vaccinated especially if they are doing all the other things you can do which have shown to be effective, wearing a mask, social distancing and use good hand hygiene. I understand that you want to get back out there and socialize and not have to worry about it, but there are many people that are perfectly content to stay at home and continue to do what we have been doing. Granted that it could save your life, but the chances of you dieing from Covid-19 are pretty low now especially if you're not in a high risk category and if you doing the other preventitive measures and the numbers just keep on going down. If you are still doing all the other things to protect yourself and you're not high risk is the vaccine really necessary? So that's the other side of the argument.

According to what I have seen the % of people vaccinated is now around 40%. It think it will continue to climb but I doubt it ever gets much above 60-70%. The rest of the folks are gonna think they are immune already, don't really think it has much to do with anti-vaccination.

[CF DolFan]

I know liberals who aren't getting it so it crosses party lines and for different reasons. Many people have way too much fear and others have zero fear because there is so much misinformation out there as well as under information.  Super Lib Bill Maher actually had a good take on the current Covid situation IMO and hits a lot of these areas.


https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/1383296276020617224

I don't want politics mixed in with my medical decisions. And when all of our news sources for Covid information have an agenda to spin us, you wind up with a badly misinformed population. #BreakingNews #ScaredStraight

https://youtu.be/Qp3gy_CLXho

[Dave Gray]

A mask is a stopgap solution.  It's to help reduce spread until we can eradicate -- and it's so .  It isn't something any of us want to be doing to protect ourselves forever.

Also, I think there's too much talk about COVID in a binary sense, like whether or not it kills you.  This is going to bankrupt a ton of people...it already has.  So many of my clients got COVID and couldn't work for a month and they just don't have to ability to get it back...not to mention the medical bills.  It's just an unnecessary strain.

I don't consider this political.  The majority of the people I know are either liberal-leaning or apolitical.  It's either general distrust of authoritative systems or people who are prone to conspiracy.

[Dave Gray]

It's funny you bring up Bill Maher.  As much as I like him in general, I think his take on the medical industry is pretty piss poor.  He's like these California hippies that thinks he's gonna cure cancer with essential oils and shit.  I might be overplaying my hand and I don't disagree that people should eat healthier, but I think he seems to put eating healthy and medical treatment as an either/or and I don't like that.

[CF DolFan]

Other than the "microchip" and "it changes my DNA" crowd, it seems there a lot of people who are cautious about how quickly the vaccines came out and didn't have the longevity of testing other vaccines have.  I get it.  I decided to go ahead and my shot because I think I'll be fine and I get to go back into the world without much to worry about, but I understand why people don't want to get it.

In my world people joke about those things but I seriously doubt many of them actually believe that. My phone starts showing ads almost immediately after I search on my home PC and I know how many cameras are around town so big brother can already do whatever they want regardless of if I accept the "chip" vaccines. LOL

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Bill Maher is NOT a liberal or a progressive.  He is a right leaning libertarian who rejected Trumpism.  If he is your definition of liberal than you are not a conservative but a fascist.

[Phishfan]

I haven't gotten the vaccine yet. I will but I need to make sure when I take the time off that I am guaranteed it is available.  It sounds like it isn't an issue anymore.

[Tenshot13]

Bill Maher is NOT a liberal or a progressive.  He is a right leaning libertarian who rejected Trumpism.  If he is your definition of liberal than you are not a conservative but a fascist.

He identifies as liberal, but stands against political correctness. In his words, "The difference is that liberals protect people, and P.C. people protect feelings." In the past, he has also described himself as a libertarian, and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Maher#:~:text=He%20identifies%20as%20liberal%2C%20but,%2C%20as%20a%20sane%20person%22.

[Dolphster]

Bill Maher is NOT a liberal or a progressive.  He is a right leaning libertarian who rejected Trumpism.  If he is your definition of liberal than you are not a conservative but a fascist.

 

I think Maher finds pretty much all politicians to be self serving buffoons.  I tend to agree with him. 

[CF DolFan]

Bill Maher is NOT a liberal or a progressive.  He is a right leaning libertarian who rejected Trumpism.  If he is your definition of liberal than you are not a conservative but a fascist.

LMAO ... this just shows how far left you are. No one in their right mind would try to say Maher is right leaning anything. And thank you for calling me fascist. I'll wear that as a badge of pride just like my racist homophobic white privileged self that I am.

[Pappy13]

A mask is a stopgap solution.  It's to help reduce spread until we can eradicate

Careful Dave. That sounds an awful lot like I want you to get the vaccine for my health, not yours. You know that there are a lot of countries where people were wearing masks long before Covid came around, right? In fact in those places if you didn't wear a mask it was considered rather insensitive. I think you are going to be seeing a lot more people wearing masks in the US for a rather long time especially in certain situations. I think you need to start getting used to the idea that that it may take a very long time before things get back to how they were pre-covid if they ever do.

[Dave Gray]

Careful Dave. That sounds an awful lot like I want you to get the vaccine for my health, not yours.

Well, I do.  It's both.

It's directly helpful to you and indirectly helpful to everyone.

I'm already OK with the idea of wearing a mask in certain situations.  I totally can see myself wearing a mask as I board a plane or if I'm in the lobby of the doctor's office when I take my kid in for a cold.  I think it would be weird wearing it day to day, but in atypical situations, I won't find it strange.

[masterfins]

I don't think we should be worrying about those not wanting to get vaccinated at this point, that's their choice and their right.  Once everyone around the world has been vaccinated that wants to get vaccinated, then we can look at what the virus is doing.  Herd immunity may be reached and it may not be a major issue, not to mention at that point side effects from the vaccine will be more well known, if there are any.