Whelp, a coworker of mine in India just died from COVID at 30 years old. No underlying conditions or comorbidities. They had a mild case last year, but they caught this India variant that is ripping through the country. He desperately wanted the vaccine, but it was unavailable to him. He thought he had some protection because of his previous infection. His family is pretty wealthy, so he was in a good hospital and everything. SMH at people that still don't want to get vaccinated while people around the world are still dying.
Then again, I'm on thin ice at work with HR and I hate them. So I may be biased. But this is generally coming from multiple HR departments across multiple companies in my career. And you're exactly right, to prevent companies from being sued.
2 sisters in their 50's passed away from presumably the indian variant in mexico 2 weeks ago. They had a huge party and everyone got it.
It's that time again! Don't forget to get your updated COVID booster to protect against B.A.4 and B.A.5 variants. I just got mine.
Are people really still getting boosters for covid? I would have thought even the most hypochondriac types would have moved on by now.
Got mine at Costco last Saturday. No line or reservation. In and out in 15 minutes. Let @Bobbythegreat ’s tears flow.
Don't get it twisted, I don't care one way or the other... get 70 of them if you feel like it. Whatever makes you happy. There's basically no benefit from it at this point, but the harm is probably negligible as well.
Vaccines reduce chances of severe illness / hospitalization, and probably reduce chances of milder symptoms forming as well. I got COVID a couple months ago and it sucked for about a week. I'll happily take an annual shot that's better targeted to variants. Many of us do it for the flu already, so this isn't a big deal at all.
There was a time when no one had been exposed to covid and there were few effective treatments. Back then, it made sense to get the vaccine. That's not really the case anymore. Effectively everyone has been exposed to the virus at this point and there are numerous effective treatments... and on top of that the virus is significantly less lethal than it once was thought to be. As to comparing the covid vaccine (either one) to a flu shot, that's flat out absurd. The mild negative side effects are FAR more common than a flu vaccine... hell they are more common than with the shingles vaccine. The more serious side effects like myocarditis and pericarditis are even more common with the covid vaccine than the anthrax vaccine. That said, it's still safe enough to where if you need to use it as a placebo to feel safe, rock on.... but you should know that the odds of serious negative side effects of the multiple boosters is equivalent or potentially higher (depending on several individual factors) than that of covid exposure without them. I just want people to be informed, I don't care what decisions they make.
The vaccine is not a placebo. I sympathize with people who had bad reactions (mild or not) to the vaccine. That wasn't my experience. Your statement that the odds of serious negative side effectives from boosters somehow makes them more dangerous than getting covid while unvaccinated sounds wrong. I'd like to see a reputable study showing that to be the case. Also, be careful about extrapolating from lethality statistics over the last 6 months. It can easily spike again in coming months. I think it's a safe bet that a highly vaccinated population will be safer than a highly unvaccinated population.
I assure you I am not misinformed. There was a time it made sense to get it, but at this point when everyone has been exposed to covid, had a vaccine, or both, it no longer provides any legitimate measurable benefit.... other than a mental benefit to hypochondriac types as a placebo. Literally none of the healthcare workers I know (honestly, no one I know at all) are still getting them... because they know it's a waste of time. These are some of the same people, including myself, who were some of the first people to get the vaccine when it came out... so we're not talking about an "anti-vax" type crowd.
I got mine back in May, so don't have the goodness of the most recent "juice". lol. My first 3 shots were Pfizer, but for giggles went with Moderna for the 4th shot. Weird this thread gets bumped today because I asked a pulmonologist today why it's been taking 6 months to get an appointment with any of them and they said it's because they're flooded with people with COVID.
Safer from whom? "I think it's a safe bet that a highly vaccinated population will be safer than a highly unvaccinated population."
It wasn't a statement about particular individuals. I meant there would be less hospitalizations and deaths overall for a population that is highly vaccinated than one that is highly unvaccinated.
That would be a true statement if it was still mid 2020.... but the situation is drastically different today. There's next to no one that hasn't been either exposed to covid, had the vaccine, or both. It's no longer a "novel" virus, we're all initiated at this point..... and on top of that there are numerous effective treatments for covid today that weren't proven or known 2 years ago. The constant boosters do basically nothing.
I don't disagree that the risks are less today than they were in 2020 or 2021. That doesn't make my statement false. I'd be more comfortable getting an updated vaccine and not having to worry about falling very ill and undergoing treatment with high probability of rebound. You write with a lot of confidence, but I don't think the data backs up your last statement that an annual shot would do nothing. The way I see it, there's little downside and quite a bit of upside to just getting it.
