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0 points6f8986c34y ago0 comments

> That's certainly a possibility if safety really is a concern. But I'd wager that the average American anti Covid fanatic (the sort: Masks are fascism! It's like what the nazis did with the jews!) is not really the kind of person travelling the world.

That is incredibly mean-spirited. And exactly what I have come to expect.

I am fully vaccinated: measles, rubella, all the rest.

I will not get the COVID shot.

I never get the annual flu shot, either. I am skeptical of a highly experimental new treatment for a disease that isn't all that lethal.

My body, my choice. If I die, that's my problem.

You go ahead and get the shot. Your body, your choice. If you "trust the science", it'll give you immunity, and you don't need to worry about me at all.

My attitude is mainstream. You just never listen to it, because you'd probably prefer that CNN or the NYT "interpret" it for you.

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mittermayr4y ago

"If I die, that's my problem." — if it were that easy, I'd be fully on board with you. I am not a fan of being told what I should be doing. In a society (like they say, no man is an island), however, it's not always that clear cut. Once you're infected, the disease does not only affect you and your body. You pass it on to others, you may have an unexpected reaction (which can now be said with quite some certainty, is at the very last the same or worse than whatever the vaccine would do to you) and that reaction means you may use up unexpected resources provided by society. If you live on a farm out in the desert all by yourself, don't need a doctor or hospital, and end up dying or being fine without other people affected, then sure, you do you. That I fully support.

Seeing you post here in HackerNews, I'd guess you'd actually enjoy reading up (and are qualified to understand) on mRNA technology, including the Pfizer "disassembly" for it on GitHub.

In terms of your attitude being mainstream, that'll depend on how many people end up getting the vaccine. That sort of thing tends to change quickly (in both ways).

6f8986c3OP4y ago

> You pass it on to others

Those "others" have spent the past five years screaming at me and threatening me.

I stopped caring about or listening to them a long time ago.

SketchySeaBeast4y ago

> My attitude is mainstream.

> Those "others" have spent the past five years screaming at me and threatening me.

So... you first claim that the mainstream view is yours, and that you won't be vaccinated so assumedly the mainstream won't (even though by the numbers that's clearly not true as 62% of adults already have one shot[1] and that number is sure to continue to grow), but then you claim that the "others" you don't care are the people that apparently don't share your view and you're OK with threatening them. This doesn't make a lot of sense given that the "mainstream" who shares your view will not be vaccinating so those will be the people your actions threaten, not the "others" who have been threatening you and don't share your views, as they will be vaccinated.

Your argument and beliefs aren't making a lot of sense, outside of what appears to be a desire to be in the popular in-group while also simultaneously being contrarian.

[1]https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine...

avs7334y ago

> If you "trust the science", it'll give you immunity, and you don't need to worry about me at all.

Me getting vaccinated protects more than just me. It protects, for example, those who cannot get vaccinated by limiting the spread of a disease. Your perspective could be (perhaps slightly unfairly) summarized as 'your child has leukemia and caught a cold from me, well that's THEIR problem not mine'

I do not understand, and refuse to accept, that absurdist shift towards individualism at the expense of all others. It makes no sense, it is often willfully blind to the realities of day to day interaction...and its just mean spirited.

Watching the anti-COVID vaccine folks has helped me realize this isn't about medicine or science or understanding...its about selfishness.

ghoward4y ago

> Watching the anti-COVID vaccine folks has helped me realize this isn't about medicine or science or understanding...its about selfishness.

It really is about science because the vaccines have not been approved for general use yet. All they have is an Emergency Use Authorization.

Edit: Also, we don't know the long-term effects of these vaccines. Those could be far worse than the virus.

For people who are not vulnerable, they shouldn't have to get a vaccine. For people who are, well, we have grocery delivery services. And masks (if they work). And vaccines (if they can get them).

If we lose liberty, then you can bet that we will lose our ability to choose whether to get experimental medical treatments or not. Trust me, you don't want to go down that road.

SketchySeaBeast4y ago

Do you have an example of said side effects your concerned about? As far as I'm aware most of the vaccine side effects should have popped up by now, and if you're talking long term then we can't possibly know the side effects of any medication because you can always move out the goalpost another decade.

The liberty being discussed here is to go to another country - that's never been an unrestrained freedom you had and up for that other nation to decide, so I don't know why you're concerned about a non-existent liberty.

1 more reply

avs7334y ago

'it really is about the science'

so what is your education level regarding interpreting vaccine trials data?

it really is about the liberty...which really is about the selfishness...I may disagree with your perspective but my bigger problem is that you won't own it.

1 more reply

jancsika4y ago

Mainstream: I agree. We are reasonable, independent-minded Americans who are rightly skeptical of a highly experimental new..

Ohio couples vaccine jabs with a lottery

Mainstream: Hot damn I like them odds!

supertrope4y ago

Public health workers have known for a long time that low health literacy is a huge problem. People will keep getting into preventable accidents and abusing drugs. All you can do is to make the facts and medical tools widely available to those who want to use them.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

mittermayr4y ago

Seeing you post here in HackerNews, I'd guess you'd actually enjoy reading up (and are qualified to understand) on mRNA technology, including the Pfizer "disassembly" for it on GitHub.

In terms of your attitude being mainstream, that'll depend on how many people end up getting the vaccine. That sort of thing tends to change quickly (in both ways).

6f8986c3OP4y ago

> You pass it on to others

Those "others" have spent the past five years screaming at me and threatening me.

I stopped caring about or listening to them a long time ago.

SketchySeaBeast4y ago

> My attitude is mainstream.

> Those "others" have spent the past five years screaming at me and threatening me.

Your argument and beliefs aren't making a lot of sense, outside of what appears to be a desire to be in the popular in-group while also simultaneously being contrarian.

[1]https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine...

avs7334y ago

> If you "trust the science", it'll give you immunity, and you don't need to worry about me at all.

Watching the anti-COVID vaccine folks has helped me realize this isn't about medicine or science or understanding...its about selfishness.

ghoward4y ago

> Watching the anti-COVID vaccine folks has helped me realize this isn't about medicine or science or understanding...its about selfishness.

It really is about science because the vaccines have not been approved for general use yet. All they have is an Emergency Use Authorization.

Edit: Also, we don't know the long-term effects of these vaccines. Those could be far worse than the virus.

For people who are not vulnerable, they shouldn't have to get a vaccine. For people who are, well, we have grocery delivery services. And masks (if they work). And vaccines (if they can get them).

If we lose liberty, then you can bet that we will lose our ability to choose whether to get experimental medical treatments or not. Trust me, you don't want to go down that road.

SketchySeaBeast4y ago

1 more reply

avs7334y ago

'it really is about the science'

so what is your education level regarding interpreting vaccine trials data?

it really is about the liberty...which really is about the selfishness...I may disagree with your perspective but my bigger problem is that you won't own it.

1 more reply

jancsika4y ago

Mainstream: I agree. We are reasonable, independent-minded Americans who are rightly skeptical of a highly experimental new..

Ohio couples vaccine jabs with a lottery

Mainstream: Hot damn I like them odds!

supertrope4y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse