Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean C
I was talking to my mother on the phone today when I mentioned that I had not gotten the vaccine. She immediately asked me why I was against it. "I'm not.", I said, "I just don't think I need it."
But what I want to know is, given that:
- Vaccinated individuals can still contract Covid*. (But the vaccine will likely reduce the severity of symptoms.)
- Vaccinated individuals can still spread Covid to others.
- Given 1 & 2, the only person actually endangered by me not getting the vaccine is ... me.
Then why should it be anyone else's concern whether or not I get the vaccine? The only possible reason I can think of is what the "experts" said early on: that "In all the history of respiratory-borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person."† So, unless a person is currently showing symptoms of Covid, it is highly unlikely that they will be the cause of an outbreak. Vaccinated or not.
But if you admit that the above statements are true, you have to admit that almost everything else we've been told cannot be entirely true. And you never admit that, because that might undermine confidence ... which it should.
Pretty much everything we've been told from the start of this is contradictory and none of it makes any real sense, if you think about it. I know that we still do not fully understand this disease and it is better to err on the side of caution. But we still don't fully understand the common cold, either. What I have a big problem with is when we start passing laws and issuing mandates about things we aren't even sure of.
And this "pandemic" is certainly not the only example of that.
* If you research this fact, you may still find some seemingly contradictory information. Some sites simply say that the Covid vaccines - and vaccines in general - will prevent you from getting the disease they were developed for. Other sites admit that it is still possible to get the disease, but the chance is reduced. Still other sites recommend not taking any chances and to continue to wear a mask and social distance ... which I do anyway.
† Dr. Anthony Fauci |
I'll just leave you with my own experience. I'm currently 8 days post start of covid symptoms.
My wife and I were vaccinated (Pfizer). Our 15 year old son and 12 year old daughter were not. They're both athletes in great physical shape. My wife and I are older and in not as good a shape with high blood pressure controlled by medication. My son got a double ear infection (testing negative for covid) that was getting better once he was prescribed the right antibiotic and he resumed going to football practice. Then he started feeling worse. Back to the doctor and another covid test - this time is positive. Into isolation he goes while we waited for those results - that was 2 Thursdays ago. Since my wife and I are vaccinated, we don't have to quarantine - just wear a mask indoors and look for symptoms. Friday evening before last, my wife gets home from work and says she thinks she's getting a migraine from the stress of first day back in the classroom. Saturday morning she and my daughter both wake up with with cold symptoms and go to the urgent care to get tested. Sunday morning before last, I wake up with same symptoms and go off and get tested. By the time I got home from the doctors office, I had already lost my sense of taste and smell. We all tested positive. The kids - it was like a cold.
Me and my wife? Symptoms were slightly different - I was mostly clogged sinuses, low grade fever, and cough due to post nasal drip. She had higher fever and worse cough. Then, in around day 3 of symptoms is when we both got shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue. No issues taking deep breaths, but obviously the O2 saturation is not where it should be - it was around 95% instead of my normal 98%. I had that for 3 days. My wife and daughter got tested in Saturday and had results on Monday - and my wife got Monoclonal Antibodies on Tuesday. My results came on Tuesday but I had to wait to get the Monoclonal Antibodies because the schedule was full. I got them last Friday and the next day I felt much better without the shortness of breath. At this point, I have a lingering cough and my taste and smell haven't yet returned.
Bottom line - getting covid sucks. If we had not been vaccinated, we'd probably have been in the hospital. If you're even slightly overweight, or have high blood pressure or diabetes, or any other type of circulatory or respiratory issue, you don't want to get it. If I had not gotten the shortness of breath, I would not have even thought twice since it was otherwise like any other cold I've ever gotten. But that shortness of breath came on suddenly and it just went in waves of it followed by feeling no shortness of breath. I actually had less shortness of breath by moving around rather than sitting down.
Absolutely, vaccination should be your choice, but don't fool yourself that you're in tip-top health if you aren't. You don't have to be 400 lbs - literally carrying an extra 15-20 pounds could be the difference in symptoms. Likewise, if you are taking medicine for high blood pressure to keep it in the normal range - you still have high blood pressure.
"Mild" symptoms can mean anything from a headache or the sniffles to full-blown AIDS levels of feeling awful - just short of needing to be hospitalized. It all depends on your individual physiology.
Your chances of getting COVID aren't all that great in most situations. But when you bring it home, you're likely going to get it. 6 days from first person showing symptoms to last person showing symptoms. And we were isolating "patient zero" from his start of symptoms while waiting for his test results. He's already back in school after clearing his 10 days (it's day 13 for him due to the weekend). Lucky for him, he only had a fever for a day, otherwise he would have had to get an EKG due to concerns over myocarditis before being allowed back to sports.