Anyone else get the Covid Vaccine?

[Thewintersoldier]

It's good to see a healthy dose of logic and sarcasm here. I work and interact with the far left woke cancel culture and far right maga people. I'm ready to leave this planet and am trying  to sneak on a spaceX flight to mars. Some of your comments have made my day. I'll just be glad when we can go back to being depressed about everyday life and not being stuck inside during a pandemic lol

[matmosphere]

It's good to see a healthy dose of logic and sarcasm here. I work and interact with the far left woke cancel culture and far right maga people. I'm ready to leave this planet and am trying  to sneak on a spaceX flight to mars. Some of your comments have made my day. I'll just be glad when we can go back to being depressed about everyday life and not being stuck inside during a pandemic lol

Ha, yeah that will be nice.

[jimilee]

Yeah, I figured it was just a joke, sorry CJ. I have definitely talked to people that do feel that way though and it's in no way constructive.

I totally feel you about how to start those conversations. I don't have the answer, but I strongly feel like that's what we have to do.

I should have noted in my original post that I was joking. Otherwise, it just looks callous and ignorant. Appreciate you not letting me skate on that. 

I think we can probably start to find some common ground in the next several months. Now that we will (most likely) be getting back to the old, comfortable shit-show that the presidency and federal politics has historically been, I think some of the daily reality-show circus antics will fall away. Not have a major scandal break every couple of days is going to be nice.

Remember when a blow job was the craziest thing that had ever happened in the White House? I miss that.

That guy was awesome. I miss Sara Palin too, she could see Russia from her porch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TGP39]

I plan to get my micro-chip shot as soon as they will let me. 

Still a lot of people I talk to at work or in general think the shot is full of nanobots and 5g and voodoo.

Let's hope that all these people stick to their beliefs and don't get the vaccine and then nature sorts things out.

Please don't say things like this.

If the exhorting you not to wish death on other human beings isn't good enough, I (and probably you) have friends who are immunocompromised and can't get most vaccines, including the flu vaccine and will not be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine, so hoping that the people around them don't get the vaccine is wishing death on them, too.

I'd like to point something out here.  Immunocompromised individuals can and should get the COVID-19 vaccine as well as the flu vaccine.  The only vaccine which is unsafe for this population is live vaccines.  The flu vaccine is a attenuated vaccine and the Moderna/Pfizer vaccine are new mRNA vaccines.  I work as a hospital pharmacist and I take strong immunosuppressive medications for a kidney transplant.  I make sure to get the flu vaccine every year and I have already had my first round of the Moderna vaccine.  I had absolutely no adverse effects with the first shot and I am due for the second shot later this month.  Dr. Anthony Fauci has also stated that immunocompromised individuals should be vaccinated as soon as possible.   
     I respect an individual's right to decide whichever health choices they feel are best for them. I just strongly recommend people educate themselves by reading peer reviewed literature or from healthcare individuals themselves.  Don't make such an important decision based on what you read on Facebook or twitter. 

[gordo]

Well said. I might add pneumonia and shingles as good options as well. The folks I've talked to had reactions from feeling a little crappy for a day to a mildly sore injection site. Insanely small price to pay for a potential "get out of jail free" card.

[Aentons]

I'm curious to see how well it actually works in the real world

[matmosphere]

I'm curious to see how well it actually works in the real world

The research suggest both the ones that have been improved are highly effective. I see no reason to doubt that right now. Plus I figure it will be like most other vaccines work, if you are one of the unlucky few that does get sick after having the vaccine, there will be a much smaller chance of having a severe case.

[eh là bas ma]

Blind faith in science is just as dangerous as religious belief and superstitions. It is my understanding that these vaccines only protect people from beeing sick. Vaccinated people will still carry the virus and infect other people. Even if the vaccine is what they hope it is, the epidemic will still spread, and mutate. This alone should make everyone wonder quite suspiciously.
If you aren't 80 years old and at the edge of death, or afflicted by some special health problem that makes you vulnerable to  a serious sickness, I can't see the point.
I can't see the point of getting it in everyone's arm, other than trying to reassure the whole world (and incidentally make a huge fortune).
Moreover, corona virus are constantly mutating, the pharmaceutic industry have no idea if this expensive and rushed vaccination campaign will have any results in the end on the epidemic. I certainly hope so, but hope can easily turn out to be delusion, at least with me.

Most side effects usually take years to show up, tragedies happened since the eighteenth century (Hepatitis B, 1995 or h1n1, 2011 for exemple). I am really concerned about vaccinated people's health in 10 years from now. And obviously sceptical about the efficiency of these corona vaccines, knowing it's impossible to find the one and only solution to a problem that's constantly changing. Hence the fact that the flu's vaccine never really worked (30 to 60 percent).
I really can't understand what's happening to humanity with this crazy "sanitary crisis".
I know for a fact that in France, confinements and curfews come from hypocrisy: it's only about NOT reopening all the public hospitals that have been closed for "economic reasons" during these last "neo-liberal" corrupted years. The government's "great health council" (newspapers claim there's more conflicts of interest in those councils alone than in the whole country together...) told us openly so itself ! French government is still silently destroying public hospitals and medical jobs during this crisis, in order to push people toward private medical establishments in the near future. The police crushed the Healthcare worker's demonstrations with much violence in 2019 and 2020. Looks like nothing can stop mobsters in expensive suits when they are protected by poor guys in uniform, armed to the teeth. May all DIY goddesses protect us ! Build your own vaccine ! Build your own brain ! Imagine that some guy puts you in jail for one year, without music gear, then he comes back and tells you the only solution for you to go back to your good old life, with all your stompboxes, is to drink a strange potion. Would you gladly drink it ? I would fake drinking it and find help to investigate this further once released from their jail ...or something ... Maybe modify the old multimeter into a great fuzzy laser weapon, connected to a powerfull tube amp to break their walls, release the other prisoners and see them return safely to their emg pickups and loop stations. No more strange potions !

[DLW]

Blind faith in science is just as dangerous as religious belief and superstitions. It is my understanding that these vaccines only protect people from beeing sick. Vaccinated people will still carry the virus and infect other people. Even if the vaccine is what they hope it is, the epidemic will still spread, and mutate. This alone should make everyone wonder quite suspiciously.
If you aren't 80 years old and at the edge of death, or afflicted by some special health problem that makes you vulnerable to  a serious sickness, I can't see the point.
I can't see the point of getting it in everyone's arm, other than trying to reassure the whole world (and incidentally make a huge fortune).
Moreover, corona virus are constantly mutating, the pharmaceutic industry have no idea if this expensive and rushed vaccination campaign will have any results in the end on the epidemic. I certainly hope so, but hope can easily turn out to be delusion, at least with me.

Most side effects usually take years to show up, tragedies happened since the eighteenth century (Hepatitis B, 1995 or h1n1, 2011 for exemple). I am really concerned about vaccinated people's health in 10 years from now. And obviously sceptical about the efficiency of these corona vaccines, knowing it's impossible to find the one and only solution to a problem that's constantly changing. Hence the fact that the flu's vaccine never really worked (30 to 60 percent).
I really can't understand what's happening to humanity with this crazy "sanitary crisis".
I know for a fact that in France, confinements and curfews come from hypocrisy: it's only about NOT reopening all the public hospitals that have been closed for "economic reasons" during these last "neo-liberal" corrupted years. The government's "great health council" (newspapers claim there's more conflicts of interest in those councils alone than in the whole country together...) told us openly so itself ! French government is still silently destroying public hospitals and medical jobs during this crisis, in order to push people toward private medical establishments in the near future. The police crushed the Healthcare worker's demonstrations with much violence in 2019 and 2020. Looks like nothing can stop mobsters in expensive suits when they are protected by poor guys in uniform, armed to the teeth. May all DIY goddesses protect us ! Build your own vaccine ! Build your own brain ! Imagine that some guy puts you in jail for one year, without music gear, then he comes back and tells you the only solution for you to go back to your good old life, with all your stompboxes, is to drink a strange potion. Would you gladly drink it ? I would fake drinking it and find help to investigate this further once released from their jail ...or something ... Maybe modify the old multimeter into a great fuzzy laser weapon, connected to a powerfull tube amp to break their walls, release the other prisoners and see them return safely to their emg pickups and loop stations. No more strange potions !

To paraphrase this... "We shouldn't trust science. Instead, we should pick the parts of science that support our preconceived opinions and ignore the rest. Oh, and confirmation bias is a conspiracy theory."

[GermanCdn]

Reality is I probably won't have access to the vaccine until September, but will get it then, if for no other reason, than most of career has hinged on the ability to travel internationally and I suspect being vaccinated is going to be a precursor to being able to do that effectively again.

As far as concerns about the vaccine, I have some based on the implementation timeframe, however, in talking to my mom about it she drew the comparison to kids getting the Polio vaccine in the 50s and how scary a scenario for parents that must have been (my father had Polio as a child), and putting that into perspective, with the advances that science has made over the past 7 decades I guess I should be mostly OK with it.  At this point returning to somewhat of a normal life is preferable; I've already had one parent whose funeral we couldn't attend due to restrictions, I'd prefer not to have that happen again. 

[Bio77]

One of the most fascinating things about this pandemic for me has been watching the way science intersects with public policy and messaging.  For example, right now they are saying that if you are vaccinated you can still transmit the virus to others.  One could guess that if you are vaccinated you won't have the level of infection needed to shed enough virus and infect others.  I wonder what variables were part of that decision.  Is it that they don't know for sure you can't transmit yet (and it would be dangerous to presume) or was it that they are worried about people walking around without masks before they are even vaccinated? Ultimately we need to keep everyone masked and distanced until hospitalizations are down. 

I'm old school.  I think the government wants to get society functioning again and I think doctors, in general, want people to be healthy and live.  I'm willing to have some trust in the process.  My wife is getting first dose of the vaccine this week.  I'll take it as soon as it is available. 

[DLW]

One of the most fascinating things about this pandemic for me has been watching the way science intersects with public policy and messaging.  For example, right now they are saying that if you are vaccinated you can still transmit the virus to others.  One could guess that if you are vaccinated you won't have the level of infection needed to shed enough virus and infect others.  I wonder what variables were part of that decision.  Is it that they don't know for sure you can't transmit yet (and it would be dangerous to presume) or was it that they are worried about people walking around without masks before they are even vaccinated? Ultimately we need to keep everyone masked and distanced until hospitalizations are down.

Infection and disease are not the same. You can be infected, not show any disease symptoms, and shed infectious amounts of virus. These people are known as asymptomatic carriers. The issue is not that we know vaccinated people will become asymptomatic carriers. Rather, we don't know if they will. To mitigate unnecessary loss of life, the CDC is recommending that everyone continue to wear a mask, including vaccinated individuals, until one of two things happen: 1. we empirically determine that the vaccine also prevents the transmission of virus or 2. we achieve herd immunity (through vaccination).

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html

[matmosphere]

One of the most fascinating things about this pandemic for me has been watching the way science intersects with public policy and messaging.  For example, right now they are saying that if you are vaccinated you can still transmit the virus to others.  One could guess that if you are vaccinated you won't have the level of infection needed to shed enough virus and infect others.  I wonder what variables were part of that decision.  Is it that they don't know for sure you can't transmit yet (and it would be dangerous to presume) or was it that they are worried about people walking around without masks before they are even vaccinated? Ultimately we need to keep everyone masked and distanced until hospitalizations are down. 

I'm old school.  I think the government wants to get society functioning again and I think doctors, in general, want people to be healthy and live.  I'm willing to have some trust in the process.  My wife is getting first dose of the vaccine this week.  I'll take it as soon as it is available.

As I understand it part of the reason they were able to make the vaccine available so quickly is that they skipped a lot of the testing they would usually do prior to authorization. The research that has already been done was focused on safety and effectiveness, but generally before these things are rolled out they do a lot more.

For example, as those of us with children probably know, no testing has been done on kids so we can understand if it will be safe for them. There are several other things that they generally study that got skipped as well. One of those is if a vaccinated person can be immune but still transmit COVID-19 to others. I think they expect the answer to be no, but because they didn't have time to study it they don't know for sure.

That information just takes longer to get than the time they had to do the testing. I'm sure at some point they will know. I'm sure they are working on it now. But until they can say for sure one way or another, I'd say we're better safe than sorry.

And yeah, scientists historically aren't great communicators of their work. That's why people like Carl Sagan, Neil DeGrass Tyson, and (honestly) Bill Nye are such gems and so important. They have a way of discussions this stuff that is far more approachable than most scientist do. The forward to a brief history of time has some good insight into this stuff. Scientist want to show their data as empirical proof of things, but most people haven't learned the skills to process that data. Someone needs to distill the data into ideas that people can understand. That step gets overlooked.

[DLW]

And yeah, scientists historically aren't great communicators of their work. That's why people like Carl Sagan, Neil DeGrass Tyson, and (honestly) Bill Nye are such gems and so important. They have a way of discussions this stuff that is far more approachable than most scientist do. The forward to a brief history of time has some good insight into this stuff. Scientist want to show their data as empirical proof of things, but most people haven't learned the skills to process that data. Someone needs to distill the data into ideas that people can understand. That step gets overlooked.

That is a fair criticism. I would like to point out a few things which at least partially explain why scientists struggle to communicate to the lay public.

First, scientists live at the edge of the known and unknown, and often times, the truth isn't entirely understood by even themselves. Scientists get comfortable with uncertainty. Much of free time (which is small, see point #3 below) is spent saying, "I don't know. This is what I could do to know a little more about it though." "I don't know" is an entirely unsatisfying answer to a non-scientist.

Second, science is complicated. Ideally, the goal of all research is to distill a complicated concept into a small package that anyone can wrap their mind around. In some ways this is related to my first point; How simple something can be made is often limited by our own capabilities as scientists, as well as our current understanding of the topic. However, some concepts are just too complicated for a person to understand unless they are willing to invest the effort to learn. For example, you'll never understand thermodynamics unless you learn to use math as a language. Words will never explain that concept.

Finally, scientists are spread so incredibly thin that we don't have the time or will to communicate with lay people. A tiny fraction of a scientist's work actually involves doing science. Most of our time is spent teaching classes, writing (and reviewing) grants, writing/revising (and peer reviewing) manuscripts, serving on student and administrative committees, invited lectures, conferences, etc... It's death by a thousand paper cuts.

How do you fix the problem? More science public advocates like Sagan, NdGT, Nye, and EO Wilson, as well as better scientific education for lay people.

[matmosphere]

And yeah, scientists historically aren't great communicators of their work. That's why people like Carl Sagan, Neil DeGrass Tyson, and (honestly) Bill Nye are such gems and so important. They have a way of discussions this stuff that is far more approachable than most scientist do. The forward to a brief history of time has some good insight into this stuff. Scientist want to show their data as empirical proof of things, but most people haven't learned the skills to process that data. Someone needs to distill the data into ideas that people can understand. That step gets overlooked.

That is a fair criticism. I would like to point out a few things which at least partially explain why scientists struggle to communicate to the lay public.

First, scientists live at the edge of the known and unknown, and often times, the truth isn't entirely understood by even themselves. Scientists get comfortable with uncertainty. Much of free time (which is small, see point #3 below) is spent saying, "I don't know. This is what I could do to know a little more about it though." "I don't know" is an entirely unsatisfying answer to a non-scientist.

Second, science is complicated. Ideally, the goal of all research is to distill a complicated concept into a small package that anyone can wrap their mind around. In some ways this is related to my first point; How simple something can be made is often limited by our own capabilities as scientists, as well as our current understanding of the topic. However, some concepts are just too complicated for a person to understand unless they are willing to invest the effort to learn. For example, you'll never understand thermodynamics unless you learn to use math as a language. Words will never explain that concept.

Finally, scientists are spread so incredibly thin that we don't have the time or will to communicate with lay people. A tiny fraction of a scientist's work actually involves doing science. Most of our time is spent teaching classes, writing (and reviewing) grants, writing/revising (and peer reviewing) manuscripts, serving on student and administrative committees, invited lectures, conferences, etc... It's death by a thousand paper cuts.

How do you fix the problem? More science public advocates like Sagan, NdGT, Nye, and EO Wilson, as well as better scientific education for lay people.

You're preaching to the choir man.

Although I might add as a possible solution that we should allow scientist more time to actually focus on their research and not administrative duties. You know maybe a world were people respect scientist, and support their work.