Coronavirus (Covid-19) Discussion
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I personally lost 3 dear friends to Covid this past year. Two were older friends, the third was 30 and a pilot with Avianca Airlines. Each story was as devastating as what G described. I also have had some close friends that have lost loved ones to Covid. It's like others have said, a no brainer to get the vaccine. I had the Moderna vaccines and had the 2nd shot symptoms. I still maintain safety precautions, and will gladly take a 3rd shot when advised. What makes me have bad dreams is that this disease mutates as it continues, and will get worse. It was the UK variant 6 months ago, now the delta variant. What's next?
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I personally lost 3 dear friends to Covid this past year. Two were older friends, the third was 30 and a pilot with Avianca Airlines. Each story was as devastating as what G described. I also have had some close friends that have lost loved ones to Covid. It's like others have said, a no brainer to get the vaccine. I had the Moderna vaccines and had the 2nd shot symptoms. I still maintain safety precautions, and will gladly take a 3rd shot when advised. What makes me have bad dreams is that this disease mutates as it continues, and will get worse. It was the UK variant 6 months ago, now the delta variant. What's next?
Again sorry for your losses Roman.
The mutations are exactly what puts me off having the vaccine at the moment. It just feels like it has been rushed and we are signing ourselves up to a yearly vaccine. I know people will say actually it’s been in the works for years and because of the pandemic it has suddenly been worked on collectively etc. But to me it feels rushed. I also don’t like the idea that the pharma companies have been cleared of any responsibilities if there is any problems.
This pandemic has been a different experience for everyone I believe. Some people have lost loved ones so their view is different to mine for example who thankfully hasn’t experienced this. People have also been locked away watching the frankly appalling news coverage which has left them in a massive state of fear.
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I’m not in a position to weigh in to heavily because my experience with Covid is essentially non existent. I’ve had a few family members that have contracted it and thankfully they were all fine within a few weeks.
Beyond that, I got “stranded” in New Zealand at the onset. So again, my perspective is quite different than most.
That being said, these variants do seem to keep coming don’t they…https://www.cnet.com/health/new-lambda-variant-of-covid-what-you-should-know/
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The mutations are exactly what puts me off having the vaccine at the moment. It just feels like it has been rushed and we are signing ourselves up to a yearly vaccine.
Mutations will continue to happen as long as there is viral spread in the population. Viruses can’t mutate if they don’t have new hosts. Getting vaccinated now is the only way to prevent the rise of more variants.
Also, just like the flu, we are in for a yearly shot, no matter what. This isn’t going away. The genie is out of the bottle.
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I agree @sabergirl We have flu jabs in UK annually, but I was unsure about The US, so I chose to keep quiet and not risk promoting my ignorance….
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The one reassuring thing about an annual vaccine is that (for now) it appears attacking the outer shell is working against every variant. What’s reassuring about it is that if we could have some type of pharmaceutical transparency act that guarantees an unaltered and safe product, we wouldn’t have to worry about what’s in the latest vaccine. With a lack of changing parts, we could run less of a chance of messing it up.
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Beyond that, I got “stranded” in New Zealand at the onset. So again, my perspective is quite different than most.
That being said, these variants do seem to keep coming don’t they…same here. spending most of the time in Australia, I'll admit that I've grown complacent.
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The mutations are exactly what puts me off having the vaccine at the moment. It just feels like it has been rushed and we are signing ourselves up to a yearly vaccine.
Also, just like the flu, we are in for a yearly shot, no matter what. This isn’t going away. The genie is out of the bottle.
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I don't have that shot either. Had flu once in my life 20 years ago and yes it sucked and I didn't get out of bed for 2 weeks but I am still not having a vaccine yearly for it.
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I don't typically do the flu shot either, but I will be doing CV boosters. Long-haul COVID and long-term effects even in minor cases such as lung and cardiac muscle scarring are scary enough to easily justify it. As far as I know the flu can more exacerbate than create chronic health conditions.
It's not that big of a sacrifice relative to the benefits and risks of not doing it.
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I don't typically do the flu shot either, but I will be doing CV boosters. Long-haul COVID and long-term effects even in minor cases such as lung and cardiac muscle scarring are scary enough to easily justify it. As far as I know the flu can more exacerbate than create chronic health conditions.
It's not that big of a sacrifice relative to the benefits and risks of not doing it.
See I hear you mate. And then I see this. Even the so called expert’s don’t seem to know what they are saying!
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"Experts" get things wrong from time to time, not all recommendations are based on strong evidence, and not all people interpret evidence the same way. Decision-makers, and people in positions to make recommendations are not clairvoyant. Emergencies of this nature force them to weigh in before they would probably be otherwise comfortable to do so, and being cautious with recommendations–or changing them--is a good sign.
The vaccine absolutely was rushed...just like an ambulance rushes to your house if you call with a medical emergency. Rushing isn't without risk, but the cost of taking your time is known and significant.
My wife's step-grandmother has leg braces and walks with a cane because she got polio when she was young. Had the vaccine been out just a few years earlier she would never have gotten it and had a much different life. Some diseases of civilization are devastating. If you're going to live in civilization and risk these diseases my feeling is you may as well get the offsetting benefits of civilization, i.e. the deep scientific specialization it allows and the resulting preventative measures (vaccines, etc).
Certain COVID symptoms are worrisome like some have mentioned here, and I personally think vaccinating is important in this case. I have two young children and I do worry for them still even though both my wife and I are vaccinated.
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Very well said. And that expert probably just flubbed his statement because he was, I don’t know, nervous? Preoccupied with the heavy task of is managing with a pandemic? Human? I’ll give him a pass.
And yep, it seems like most of the worries I hear these days are from parents with kids too young for the vaccine. I can’t imagine how frustrating this all must me.
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And yep, it seems like most of the worries I hear these days are from parents with kids too young for the vaccine. I can’t imagine how frustrating this all must me.
It's been a double-edged sword for sure, in so many ways.
Prior to the pandemic our daughter was in preschool and had a cough for like 6 months straight, worst in the mornings. We had filters throughout the house and a humidifier in her room, the works. We were about to get a mold study done on the house when the pandemic hit. Less than two weeks home and it was gone, and has never come back. Probably had constant bronchitis.
My son was in daycare and it was a triumph if he napped for 40-50 minutes there. Probably happened 2 or 3 times per week. Pandemic hits and he sleeps 3 hours per day, no exceptions. We thought he just slept a lot on the weekends because he lacked naps during the week, but no, he just liked to nap that much. I can't even guess the difference in mental/physical development, not to mention lack of stress (for everyone) when he wasn't a basket-case every night after 6pm.
All this really highlighted the intangible costs of daycare. It was difficult to work home with them home, but I got to see my son walk and talk for the first time when I almost certainly would have missed those things otherwise.
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^^^ Yes indeed! Those are some mega silver linings to this whole thing.
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When you work in the health and social care profession, trust me, we are sick and tired of the media misrepresenting statistics THAT A READILY AVAILABLE to the public. There is a massive difference between 'death within 28 days of a positive covid test' (what the BBC reports), and covid as a leading cause of death… From the ONS
The leading cause of death in both England and Wales in June 2021 was ischaemic heart diseases (10.8% and 11.9% of all deaths respectively).
This compares COVID-19 as a leading cause in 0.9% of all deaths registered in June in England and 0.1% of all deaths in Wales.
PHE take a view that annual Covid vaccination will be as standardised as influenza vaccination. It will be offered to vulnerable groups and those working in certain professions.
The influenza vaccine each year is generally not that reliable as it is developed in September/October before strains have mutated over the months November to January. There are hundreds of strains of influenza and Coronavirus circulating every season, so any vaccine is hit and miss.
https://www.labnews.co.uk/article/2030503/coronavirus-is-it-just-a-type-of-flu
I've opted to not have the vaccine as my own values do not support the lack of science and ethics of testing on animals. All vaccines are laboratory tested on mice and rhesus monkeys.
That said, the UK Government are seeking to legislate that anyone entering a care home to undertake work will need to have had 2 vaccine does as of October 2021, with 12 weeks grace period. If Social Work England make it a requirement of my professional registration, I have some difficult decisions to make.
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You have to test on animals, human or otherwise, at some point. There's no safer way at this point to make medicines and vaccines. I would rather start with a rodent than with my daughter, to put it in a human perspective and to remove the perverse illusion that we would value a mouse's life as much as a human's. Either way, your opting in or out of a vaccine does nothing to change that, and beyond idealism, you have to think about the impact of you being removed from those who love and depend upon you into the calculus around vaccination decisions. Almost every single hospitalization and death around here at least is unvaccinated people, and not always unhealthy or elderly ones. At a minimum, by opting out of a ready vaccine, you're helping the virus by providing an open Petri dish (you) for it to play around in and use as a staging ground to mutate or infect others, and thereby impacting all of civilization since we are all connected.
Not sure what is meant by "lack of science." It is a triumph of the scientific method to have made these COVID vaccines and we're lucky that they were already working on coronaviruses since SARS and other viruses, and on mRNA technology.
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Brilliant.
If you're going to live in civilization and risk these diseases my feeling is you may as well get the offsetting benefits of civilization….
And @mclaincausey I agree 100%.
