Moving this to its own topic
Do you have a parent, spouse, family member who is showing reluctance to getting the coronavirus vaccine?
Any tips or information you can share?
NO ANTI VACCINE! Tips or helpful information!
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I’ve posted several times that my 83-year-old mother is not planning to get the vaccine. She doesn’t get flu shots either. She is not anti-vax, but she never gets sick, so she doesn’t think she needs them and why put something foreign into her body unnecessarily? She listens politely to anyone who patiently explains the fallacy of her logic but goes on her merry way. In the case of COVID, her information universe has told her COVID is overblown and you know the rest. Because she has taken no precautions and gone about her life uninterrupted (shopping, lunching, attending church twice a week as the pianist, singing in the choir, flying/traveling, etc.), she feels that proves that her views are correct. As I posted in the other thread, as long as she accepts the consequences of her decision (we can’t get together until this is over or I’m fully inoculated and, if she gets sick, she’s on her own), then there is nothing more to be said.
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I’m not anti-vax, not even a little.
I do not get a flu shot regularly. I do get one about every 4 years or so. I hardly ever get sick, and if I do I tend to bounce back quickly.
I’m reticent to get the vaccine - but I will…when my age group is open. I have some people telling me I can “jump the line” by crossing counties. I won’t do that.
I’m not someone who jumps in immediately on anything (except perhaps a candy bar or sweet treat I’ve never tried before). I prefer to take the “watch and see” approach, and that’s what I’m doing with the vaccine.
I have a very dear friend of 46 years, who is nearly 20 years older than I am (she’s in her early 80s) - I’m actually terrified for her getting the vaccine as she’s sick often, and those illnesses lay her out for weeks at a time, and she has had some serious reactions to flu shots and other medications over the years. No, I have not shared my fears with her…I would never. She’s grown up enough to make her own decisions and certainly doesn’t need me to plant fear seeds. Her family all live close and she is missing hanging out with them, and the vaccine (she’s hoping) will allow them to once again be able to.
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One of my coworkers in my medical clinic, that sits in the small area with me, has no interest in the vaccine. The only reason this surprises me, is she talks all day about how scary “the Covid 19” is and how many people have died. When I asked if she is so worried, why won’t she get the vaccine, she just mumbles and doesn’t give me an answer. It is her choice, but I did reminder her, that the vaccine not only protects her, but it also protects our patients and coworkers.
I have ended the discussion, but I also requested she stop talking about Covid and to leave it as we will agree to disagree.
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One of my coworkers is refusing, much like @snowball. She’s nervous about getting Covid and lived through the darkest days in NYC in one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods. I suspect that after the rest of us in the office get it, she will start to reconsider. For now, demand far outstrips supply and she is 33, so I’m not too worried about her.
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I already have had COVID, so I’m not sure I really need the vaccine. Seems that it would be better is someone else got it as I have an appt in early Feb to get it. If it looks like it would go to waste if I cancelled the appt I will go ahead and just get it. If someone else decided not to get it at all I would respect their decision. No one should be forced to take it.
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We are eager to be vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available to us. We do not have any friends who are reluctant. My wife does have coworkers who are reluctant, and has been trying to talk a few of them into getting vaccinated. I have not been able to notice any coherent reason for the reluctance. Certainly enough people have been vaccinated by now that if there was any major problem with the vaccine we all would have heard about it.
We all had the flu vaccine fairly early on the basis that we really did not want to get both the flu and COVID at the same time. I understand that they are very different diseases, but it is possible to get two different diseases at once. I think that this might get me to 30 years in a row of flu vaccinations, or I might be one year short of this milestone.
I think that COVID is overblown if you are 25 years old and healthy (my 25 year old daughter had a very mild case). If you are 83, then it is just as bad as people say.
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Is this true? I keep reading that the vaccine protects the person vaccinated from illness but there’s no consensus as whether it prevents transmission which is why masking and social distancing is still necessary.
I will get the vaccine when it’s my turn but I’m more of a wait and see person. I’m happy to let millions try it before I do. Vaccines can have side effects that take a while to manifest.
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My 28 year old S doesn’t plan to get it. He is allergic to many, many things (including numerous medications) and he has had bad reactions to vaccines in the past (he didn’t finish his HPV series due to a reaction, and his last MMR as a child caused issues). He is an adult, and I have to respect his choice. On one hand, I wish he would consider getting it … on the other hand, if something happened to him after I pushed him to get it … I just tell myself he is an intelligent man with a background in biology and chemistry. I have to trust his judgment on this.
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Pandemics end when enough people become immune, this pandemic is no different, the idea that everyone has to become immune through catching the virus or vaccine is ludicrous. The lack of critical thinking in social media is dismaying.
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First of all what does that have to do with whether you can transmit the virus even if you’ve had the vaccine? And second, not “everyone” needs immunity but a fairly high percentage do. Not sure what your point is.
The idea that once immune that you can infect other people is of great importance, and also goes against anyone who has a real understanding of infectious diseases. While their are always some exceptions, they are highly unlikely as to be disregarded as a real pathway to further infections. Pandemics end when enough are immune (and that number depends on the transmissivity of the disease), that doesn’t mean the disease is gone from the planet (measles/cholera/yellow fever still exist).
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I agree with your premise and that’s why I’m questioning the idea that even if you’re vaccinated you can still transmit. Doesn’t make sense to me but then why all the masking etc…for people that have been vaccinated or who have already had the virus. Doesn’t add up.
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My sister-in-law and her husband don’t plan to get the COVID vaccine. This is the same sister-in-law who supports her son and his wife not vaccinating any of their children. AND not telling any others in the family about their choice - which meant large family Christmas gatherings where other children less than one were around the non-vacinnated ones. Word finally slipped out so at least people could choose not to attend.
I like to listen to Doctor Radio on XM when I’m driving in my car. Last week, an infectious disease specialist (MD) was on who said everyone will either get the vaccine or get COVID, take your pick. When DH told brother-in-law this, BIL expressed shock. I doubt it will change his mind though. And it definitely won’t change SIL’s mind.
Also on Doctor Radio this week, I heard an interview of Drs involved in the vaccine development and antibody testing development. Research to develop messenger RNA vaccines has been in progress for many years - this is not new stuff, but important groundwork research that allowed the COVID vaccines to move into testing phase so quickly.
Lastly, on the antibody front. The Drs said that antibody production in much better in people who get the vaccine vs those who had COVID.
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I work in a hospital and just got the second shot yesterday. Believe it or not, I am an anti-vaxxer but if getting this over with helps things to open up sooner, I am on board. I did research with my physicians and pharmacists and they all agreed that this vaccine is not harmful in any way, it is just sending a message to your body that you have the virus and your body learns to create the anti-bodies to fight it. Once you have the vaccine the virus cannot replicate in your body and CANNOT be transmitted to others.
Both shots, I had no reactions other than a sore arm.
Regarding the reluctance of others, I’ve heard everything - even that now the government can track me LOL, mostly people say that they are waiting… for what, I don’t know.
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Thanks to everyone who has responded. Great answers!
And if you responded on another post, I welcome you to post on here also.
@kelsmom my mom has a friend who also has allergic reactions, she’s very allergic to bees for instance. She is waiting until vaccines are available at her primary physicians office so that they can be prepared and will be able to monitor her more closely. My daughter dated a man very allergic to peanuts and I understand how nervous it can be with a life threatening allergy.
I wanted to try and answer why @snowball would tell her coworker why she should get a vaccine to help protect her other coworkers and patients. Even though they are not sure if you can transmit the virus after vaccination, experts think that it’s likely that it will help stop transmission. Even if we don’t know, the more people vaccinated the closer we get to immunity. Which means that we can more quickly get back to a somewhat normal.
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My family and my husband’s family are all eager to get the vaccine. Many of my husband’s family have already gotten at least the first dose. We have a lot of medical people in the family and I think all of us are science driven. My town, however, is full of doubters. They all still go to the bars and travel. I feel very much like the tortoise in the tortoise and hare fable, if that makes sense.
If a vaccine is 95% effective, then 5% of vaccinated people are still able to become infected and thus there is a risk of vaccinated people spreading the virus.
I also understand that for certain populations and vaccines, e.g. the elderly and flu shots, that the vaccine loses effectiveness more quickly over time. So again the same reasoning above applies.
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My mother wants to wait and see how things go. She gets flu and pneumonia shots every year, but she doesn’t want to try something so new. There have been stories about people dying after being vaccinated, and while none have been directly tied to the vaccine yet, it’s also not been ruled out. H and I are not even worry about it until it opens up for our age group, which will be a while. D and S said they will get it if it is required for school. I am curious how all the new variants will affect everything. I think it’s likely there are more out there than we know.
My brother won’t get vaccinated. He also won’t wear masks. He knows Covid is real, but unfortunately buys into similar ideas that others have mentioned above. There will never be any way of convincing him.
He currently is just getting over Covid. He has asthma and was worried about getting it. Now that he has it and hasn’t been very sick at all, he thinks it’s not a big deal. He knows my MIL died of covid, but that’s not in his sphere.
I’m actually glad he had it with no ill effects, because at least now he’s immune and won’t spread it to others, for at least a few months. But I can’t stop thinking “did he spread it to someone who got very ill or died?” That makes me angry.
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