COVID Vaccination Hesitancy

AVB-AMG · #11 11-14-2021, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Your post, which is a fantastic summary was in July. It is now November and is still valid. The points of view have become a little narrower as some of the excuses, the politics, the misinformation and conspiracy theories have been so thoroughly debunked that even the most extreme of vaccine haters don't use them anymore.

But changes are far from enough and my opinion is the remaining citizens against the vaccine are never going to embrace the vaccine. I too support mandates to protect those that refuse to be vaccinated from themselves and more importantly the majority of the country that have been vaccinated and follow the guidelines. It's not so much how they can impact the vaccinated but that the longer we take to reach a level of herd immunity the longer there will be self inflicted compromises to everyones' freedom.

I don't have any hope that anything worthwhile is going to change without more bottom up penalties and top down mandates. At some point insurance carriers are going to make cost of coverage and insurability decisions based on being vaccinated or not. Or worse yet, spread the cost around to include those that protected themselves rather than invited COVID infection. While not all COVID related, I expect the supply train to continue to be a major issue that will restrict new job growth and contribute to inflation.

I wonder what those that are anti vaccine think is the solution to the COVID interference on our freedom. What would they do to get COVID under control? How do we get back to normal?

bcredliner:

Thank you for your response. It is sad to think that in the four months since I posted my long-winded opinion on COVID-19 vaccinations, that we are still at a point where a significant number of people still refuse, for all sorts of reasons, not to get vaccinated. At least now children of parents who know better, can finally get a lower dosage vaccination to add them to the immunized. Granted, we now also realize that being vaccinated does not necessarily mean that one will not catch the COVID-19 virus, since we have seen many break-through cases of those who have been vaccinated. But the science seems to be holding true that the vast majority of those breakthrough cases are not that severe and that those infected are for the most part not having to be hospitalized. We know that getting the COVID-19 vaccine is not going to mean that one is 100% immune to getting the virus… no vaccine is completely effective. But if it turns out that going forward, that we may need to get some sort of COVID-19 booster vaccination on an annual basis, along with an influenza vaccination, then so be it. I also find it amazing that those who are still not vaccinated do not look at the statistics in every state where over 90-95% of those people who are hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus were NOT vaccinated. That really should tell you all you need to know about getting vaccinated. Yet unfortunately, there is a hard-core segment of the U.S. population who are stubbornly and adamantly against getting vaccinated and will not get any vaccine, regardless of whether or not employers, professional sporting events, musical concerts or restaurants, museums or other cultural institutions require proof of vaccination in order to gain admittance. They are gambling that they will survive this virus pandemic without suffering too badly. It is a low odds chance they are taking in that choice, IMHO. Why take such an unnecessary chance with one’s health and life?

FYI, I now have mixed feelings about mandates for getting the COVID-19 vaccine. I think that the private sector, meaning any private companies, firms, cultural institutions, hospitals, Doctor’s offices, educational institutions, retail and hospitality establishments, and entertainment venues are all perfectly within their legal rights to impose mandates that their employees and patrons, guests and visitors all show proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to be employed or gain entry and admittance. I recently attended a professional NFL football game where every fan of the 60,000 who entered the stadium, was required to show their CDC issues COVID-19 vaccination card as proof of vaccination. That gave me a level of comfort that I needed to attend, as well as the fact that it was an outdoor venue.

I am now concerned that with more States imposing vaccination mandates, as well as the Federal government that it could be a political disaster in the making, giving the Republicans one more issue to trumpet in the coming elections in 2022 and 2024. I am sympathetic to some of the arguments that the Federal government is overstepping its authority, even if they have valid, good intentions. While I do think that the U.S. armed services should be able to require all of their troops to be vaccinated, I am not so sure about local law enforcement offices and firefighters. It is a complicated, slippery-slope that has no elegant solution, since taking a hard line could very well lead to some unwanted consequences. Time will tell….

So, at this point, while we may possibly see a 5th surge of the number of people testing positive for the virus as we enter the winter months of 2021/2022, I do think that even with continued virus mutations, that our country will slowly evolve to the majority of our population either being fully vaccinated, (two shots, plus a booster shot), or those who have caught the COVID-19 virus and whose bodies have generated some natural antibodies against the virus. Yet even with that case, we will continue to have serious infections and deaths that probably could have been prevented with people choosing to become vaccinated. Another real concern that I have, which will only be learned in the coming months/years, is exactly what the detrimental effects are on one’s body and mind due to “Long COVID”, the lingering, long-term and/or after effects of having caught the COVID-19 virus.

AVB-AMG