How can there not be a COVID-19 thread?

[Runs For Fun]

I agree. It probably is very low. But very low does not equal non-existant. There are some people who have had bad reactions, 30 minute wait or not. That is a concern for some people and has nothing to do with lies. The flu shot has been around for decades and even now, some people (granted very, very few) have serious life changing reactions.

So not a single person on here can declare the COVID vaccines 100% safe. If you think you can, then you are the one lying.

But my overall point is some people have legitimate concerns about how the vaccine will affect them. That is not a lie.

Everything you do in life is not without risk. We take risks every day with everything we do. This is something people who are overly concerned about effects of the vaccine seem to forget. Every time you get in your car you risk getting in a serious accident. In fact driving carries more risk than the COVID-19 vaccine but let’s just overlook that.

 

[Eric]

The tides are continuing to shift...

United will require its U.S. employees to be vaccinated, a first for country's major airlines

United employees must be vaccinated five weeks after the FDA fully approves a Covid vaccine or five weeks after Sept. 20, whichever is first.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Roller]

I agree. It probably is very low. But very low does not equal non-existant. There are some people who have had bad reactions, 30 minute wait or not. That is a concern for some people and has nothing to do with lies. The flu shot has been around for decades and even now, some people (granted very, very few) have serious life changing reactions.

So not a single person on here can declare the COVID vaccines 100% safe. If you think you can, then you are the one lying.

But my overall point is some people have legitimate concerns about how the vaccine will affect them. That is not a lie.

Everything we do in medicine, whether therapeutic or preventive, has a risk. Even purely diagnostic procedures have the potential to do harm. The challenge is providing patients with sufficient information for them to decide whether the risk is acceptable to them. That's the process of informed consent, in which the risks, benefits, and alternatives are discussed frankly. But there are no guarantees — it's impossible to say that you won't be the person who suffers severe consequences one out of a million times.

With measures like vaccines, there are also public health considerations in play. If a patient declines a cancer therapy and dies, the effects on society tend to be small. However, unvaccinated individuals pose a threat to others around them, particularly if they work in healthcare. Hence the appropriately rising tide of hospitals and other businesses that are requiring vaccination (or frequent testing) as a condition of employment.

This doesn't mean that there aren't legitimate concerns about vaccines, excluding off-the-wall conspiracy theories. Some of the confusion relates to reactions and side effects, which range from self-limiting symptoms like fever and chills to conditions like anaphylaxis. These generally occur in close temporal proximity to the vaccination and are rarely fatal.

Worry about long-term effects is also understandable. However, it can be mitigated by expert knowledge about how vaccines work. For example, the two mRNA vaccines don't interact with the host's DNA. I've heard counter arguments that we can't prove there aren't any deleterious consequences that won't show up for, say, a decade or more. But that's always been and will forever be true of any intervention.

Social media have been a blessing and a curse during the COVID-19 pandemic. They're sometimes a source of good information, but they too often to the opposite. It's especially remarkable to see people throw around study results despite having no specialized training or knowledge to assess their scientific validity. I don't blame people who have reasonable hesitancy, but I can't abide the influencers, media personalities, and politicians who spread misinformation.

 

[Roller]

From talking to colleagues in many disciplines, I believe the pandemic experience will have deleterious effects on healthcare workers for a generation or more. And it's not just the physicians and nurses with direct patient contact — it's all the support people, from the folks who clean the rooms to the IT personnel who keep information systems running. I've made this point before, but the magnitude is increasingly becoming clear to me. This opinion piece in the Washington Post sums it up well.

All of us in healthcare are accustomed to working with people whose illness or injury was largely preventable, whether it's a driver who didn't wear a seatbelt or a patient who didn't take prescribed medications as directed. But none of us has ever seen anything that approaches what's happening now with anti-vaccination and mandates against risk mitigation. Tens of thousands of vaccine doses are being discarded in the United States while most of the rest of the world longs for them.

 

[JayMysteri0]

An example of the levels of disinformation some are willing to go to.

Courtesy of Twitter

What you need to know

– Bourla never refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Snopes, FactCheck.org and USA Today
– The Pfizer CEO announced in a Tweet that he received his second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on March 10
– Bourla had earlier announced that he intended to wait until his age group was eligible for the jab, according to AFP
– According to The Associated Press, Bourla’s planned trip to Israel was rescheduled “months ago, when vaccines were still rolling out”

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1423679438437367810/

I really can't grasp the desire to spread disinformation that so many seem obsessed with.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Good

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Expect 'a flood' of COVID-19 vaccine mandates after full FDA approval

Top U.S. infectious disease physician Dr. Anthony Fauci told USA TODAY he doesn't see future lockdowns but expects vaccine mandates to be common.

www.usatoday.com

 

[JayMysteri0]

Trending this evening on Twitter is #diesfromcovid.

One story that was at the top of the pile.

Ex-Newsmax Host Who Called Fauci ‘Lying Freak’ Dies of COVID

On his deathbed, Dick Farrel changed his tune, telling his friends to get vaccinated.

www.thedailybeast.com

A anti-vaccine right-wing radio host in West Palm Beach, Florida died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications.

Dick Farrel, 65, used his local talk show and social media to rail against Dr. Anthony Fauci, who he called a “power tripping lying freak,” and say that no one should get the coronavirus vaccine. When COVID-19 sent him to the hospital for three weeks, though, he changed his tune, urging friends to get vaccinated, friends told local station WPTV.

Farrel wrote in early July, “Vaccine Bogus Bull Shid!, Two peeps I know, got vaxed, now have Corona, hospitalized critical. Thank you Moderna, FOR NOTHING!” He erroneously told his followers they would not need the vaccine if they had already survived COVID-19. The CDC has advised former coronavirus patients to get vaccinated.

Two days later, he wrote, “Why take a vax promoted by people who lied 2u all along about masks.” He called Fauci “FOOT-chee” and said that the infectious disease expert and “power trip libb loons” Democrats were conspiring to make it seem like the pandemic was ongoing so they could grab more power.

In late June, he wrote, “So, u think it wasn’t a SCAM DEMIC? NOT ONE ELECTED DEMOCRAT ever tested positive.” He called masks “face diapers” and “face pantys.”

An ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, Farrel wrote often about baseless conspiracy theories of election fraud. In June, he penned a fearmongering post about liberals wanting to remove the American flag, writing, “Civil war beckons.”

Amy Leigh Hair, a close friend of Farrel, wrote on Facebook, “COVID took one of my best friends! RIP Dick Farrel. He is the reason I took the shot. He texted me and told me to ‘Get it!’ He told me this virus is no joke and he said, ‘I wish I had gotten it!’”

 

[JayMysteri0]

By now, if you are on social media, you probably have seen this video that has been shared all week.

If not...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1424057155007692808/

 

[Alli]

Trending this evening on Twitter is #diesfromcovid.

One story that was at the top of the pile.

And I’m at the point where I read this and all I can think is “good.” And then I hate them even more for making me feel this way.

 

[SuperMatt]

And I’m at the point where I read this and all I can think is “good.” And then I hate them even more for making me feel this way.

Survival of the fittest is a simple fact of biology. In this case, it is the mentally fit that will be able to pass on their genes. The human race is evolving with an assist from COVID-19. Our society as a whole tries to protect even its weakest members, but in this case the weakest members are refusing the help.

 

[SuperMatt]

An article about anger at the unvaccinated that made me pause and think.

Opinion | What to Do With Our Covid Rage (Published 2021)

We can start by being honest about our anger and where it comes from.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Herdfan]

An article about anger at the unvaccinated that made me pause and think.

Pretty good article.

My personal thoughts on this are simply due to the ever constant changing of what was coming out of the press and CDC on a daily basis. Some people can roll with change, some can't. So when you have the CDC saying one thing one day and then something else a week later, people lose confidence. Back then it was about social distancing and masks, or 2 masks or 2 masks and a face shield. So when the CDC can't seem to stay consistent on messaging, how do you think people, especially the less educated ones detailed in the article, are going to react?

I mean it's one thing for the CDC to be wrong about masks and social distancing. Neither really can hurt you. But then you have the CDC encouraging people to get a shot and the thought process becomes "What are they not telling me?" or What do they not know this time?" Add to that reports that people who have legitimate negative reactions to the vaccine are being silenced (Eric Clapton), what are these people who are hesitant in the first place, supposed to believe?

 

[SuperMatt]

Pretty good article.

My personal thoughts on this are simply due to the ever constant changing of what was coming out of the press and CDC on a daily basis. Some people can roll with change, some can't. So when you have the CDC saying one thing one day and then something else a week later, people lose confidence. Back then it was about social distancing and masks, or 2 masks or 2 masks and a face shield. So when the CDC can't seem to stay consistent on messaging, how do you think people, especially the less educated ones detailed in the article, are going to react?

I mean it's one thing for the CDC to be wrong about masks and social distancing. Neither really can hurt you. But then you have the CDC encouraging people to get a shot and the thought process becomes "What are they not telling me?" or What do they not know this time?" Add to that reports that people who have legitimate negative reactions to the vaccine are being silenced (Eric Clapton), what are these people who are hesitant in the first place, supposed to believe?

Please explain to me how Eric Clapton was “silenced” - when I can read all about his experience in Rolling Stone and dozens of other media outlets. If he was truly “silenced” - you never would have heard about it. Instead, it’s one of the top stories on the internet.

His initial side effects were a bit worse than most, but in speaking to many people that got vaccines, the side effects ranged from none to about a week of feeling quite sick. All of them recovered (including Clapton) and are doing just fine. People without vaccines are dying, intubated, unable to say goodbye to their families.

 

[Herdfan]

Please explain to me how Eric Clapton was “silenced” - when I can read all about his experience in Rolling Stone and dozens of other media outlets. If he was truly “silenced” - you never would have heard about it. Instead, it’s one of the top stories on the internet.

His initial side effects were a bit worse than most, but in speaking to many people that got vaccines, the side effects ranged from none to about a week of feeling quite sick. All of them recovered (including Clapton) and are doing just fine. People without vaccines are dying, intubated, unable to say goodbye to their families.

Yes, his story is slowly getting out there. But there has been tremendous pushback on him. He also got the AZ which as far as I know is not available here in the USA.

Musician Eric Clapton attacked for revealing his own Covid-19 vaccine side effects, concerns for kids

‘Tears in Heaven’ musician Eric Clapton is being accused of discouraging people from getting vaccinated against Covid-19 after he expressed concern about the effects of the inoculations, especially on children.

www.rt.com

This is along the lines of what I posted above. Anyone who is concerned about getting the vaccine and then sees people being harassed and bullied for stating their opinion is not helping. I understand the pro-vaxxers not wanting incorrect negative information out there, but when someone simply wants to put their own story out there and are attacked, those who are truly on the fence see this and think "What are they hiding or what do they not want me to know?"

 

[SuperMatt]

Yes, his story is slowly getting out there. But there has been tremendous pushback on him. He also got the AZ which as far as I know is not available here in the USA.

Musician Eric Clapton attacked for revealing his own Covid-19 vaccine side effects, concerns for kids

‘Tears in Heaven’ musician Eric Clapton is being accused of discouraging people from getting vaccinated against Covid-19 after he expressed concern about the effects of the inoculations, especially on children.

www.rt.com

This is along the lines of what I posted above. Anyone who is concerned about getting the vaccine and then sees people being harassed and bullied for stating their opinion is not helping. I understand the pro-vaxxers not wanting incorrect negative information out there, but when someone simply wants to put their own story out there and are attacked, those who are truly on the fence see this and think "What are they hiding or what do they not want me to know?"

It’s not his personal story that is the problem. It’s his total disregard for the health and safety of others.

Eric Clapton says he won't play venues that require COVID vaccines

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said only the fully vaccinated will be able to go to nightclubs and venues with big crowds in England starting in September.

www.12newsnow.com

If you don’t want to get a vaccine, fine. If you had side-effects and want to complain about them, fine. But when you insist that crowds coming to your show NOT be checked for vaccinations status, you’re putting others at risk for selfish reasons. End result: he doesn’t play any concerts. No big loss.

 

[User.45]

Yes, his story is slowly getting out there. But there has been tremendous pushback on him. He also got the AZ which as far as I know is not available here in the USA.

Musician Eric Clapton attacked for revealing his own Covid-19 vaccine side effects, concerns for kids

‘Tears in Heaven’ musician Eric Clapton is being accused of discouraging people from getting vaccinated against Covid-19 after he expressed concern about the effects of the inoculations, especially on children.

www.rt.com

This is along the lines of what I posted above. Anyone who is concerned about getting the vaccine and then sees people being harassed and bullied for stating their opinion is not helping. I understand the pro-vaxxers not wanting incorrect negative information out there, but when someone simply wants to put their own story out there and are attacked, those who are truly on the fence see this and think "What are they hiding or what do they not want me to know?"

1) Do you know whose site RT is? Aren't you concerned about Russian state propaganda?
2) You're defending the wrong guy. Let me quote Clapton:

Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so, please put up your hands… So where are you? Well wherever you all are, I think you should all just leave. Not just leave the hall, leave our country … I don’t want you here, in the room or in my country. Listen to me, man! I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white …

3) He experienced an exacerbation of his underlying chronic neuropathy secondary to the inflammatory milieu caused by the vaccine. He would have had a similar experience if he contracted the flu or got a UTI. His experience with the vaccine isn't any more relevant than anybody else's just because he's famous.

 

[Pumbaa]

His experience with the vaccine isn't any more relevant than anybody else's just because he's famous.

His experience is only relevant to them because it supports the conclusion they want to reach (ie started out with).

 

[JayMysteri0]

With a stat like THIS, how do you NOT worry?!

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1424529083325566979/

 

[JayMysteri0]

Did NOT see this coming

Over 1 Million People Have Gotten Unauthorized Covid-19 Booster Shots: Report

As cases from the Delta variant soar, some people are apparently seeking out additional vaccine doses in hopes of gaining more protection.

gizmodo.com

A CDC briefing document seen by ABC News estimates that at least a million people have received covid-19 booster shots. The number may be higher, since the document reportedly does not account for people who’ve received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The document is not publicly available, and in an email to Gizmodo, a CDC spokesperson said that the agency does “not comment on leaked information.”

Currently, a person in the U.S. is considered fully vaccinated after one dose of a Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccine or two doses of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. But some people have been getting additional doses, either on the advice of their doctor or simply by deciding on their own: Last month, Camille Kotton, a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, told the Washington Post that many have “taken matters into their own hands and many are proceeding with additional doses of vaccine as they see fit.”

As health policy outlet STAT has reported, vaccine sites would have to decide to check health records to catch someone getting an extra dose, and hospitals have to set their own policies in determining which patients might be prescribed additional doses. Insurers will need to decide whether to cover them.

Scientists have said that we so far lack adequate data to show that boosters are necessary yet, including for immunocompromised people, who face highest health risks of covid-19 infections. While the Delta variant seems more capable than earlier strains of infecting a vaccinated person, the current vaccine dosing schedule still appears to offer strong protection against serious illness and death. Pfizer and Moderna have suggested that additional doses could be needed to boost immunity in some people by this fall or winter, but the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on boosters until September, pointing out that it further incentivizes rich countries to hoard vaccines while some nations haven’t even dispensed first doses. Less than 1% of people in 23 countries, primarily in the Middle East and Africa, have been fully vaccinated. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti, that number is zero.

Either we can't get the most affected to get a shot, or we have people getting unauthorized booster shots.

We are a land of extremes.

 

[Herdfan]

I don't know about everyone else, but when I got mine, they entered all my info in a database. Wouldn't that show up if someone tried to get a 3rd shot?