I reported above than my reluctant daughter (#1 of 2) finally got her first shot yesterday after I nagged and nagged. She’s off to Missouri (Covid death valley?) for a month and I really wanted her to get a shot before going. She was afraid she’d have an adverse reaction.
Happy to report she had no reaction at all (Pfizer). She tested positive for covid at Christmas but never had any symptoms (got tested because her roommate had it) and I think it was a false positive. She drove the 12 hours today and had no issues with being tired or achy.
My Dad is Catholic and strongly pro-life. His feelings about vaccines that used fetal cell lines for development or testing is that this tragedy from many decades ago has at least been used for good, for probably billions of people. He feels like the fetus(es) at least didn’t die in vain.
His sister, my aunt, decided to get the Pfizer vaccine in spite of its use not in development, but in testing, because she knows that the actual vaccine SHE is taking was not used in association with any fetal cell line. It’s a thin line that she was comfortable with.
I agree the pope and bishops can and should educate the faithful and offer guidance with respect to the vaccine but, as you suggest, they cannot bind the faithful to accept the vaccine or make “infallible “ comments with regard to it. It’s a matter that should be informed by the faith, and not something where a person would be consider wrong or in sin by not going along with what a certain pope or bishop says. I know you know that but it’s a common misunderstanding. A funny personal story: a young Catholic friend’s Protestant father said to him, your king said to get the vaccine, as a reason for him to be vaccinated ASAP.
And I think there should be an thoughtful examination of one’s motivations. You mention consulting with a spiritual director, which I have done on more than one occasion for what it’s worth.
There seem to be people in the Church who make this decision by just going along without any knowledge of or interest in the responsibility to protest the use of fetal cell lines originating from an abortion when taking the vaccine. Or they stubbornly refuse it based on political party lines or fall into conspiracy theories and maybe some use religion as a kind of excuse not to not get the vaccine. These people might not all be taking precautions either. Then there are others who genuinely struggle with the moral issues (cooperation with an ongoing moral evil vs. the common good) and at the same time try to weigh personal risks with the virus and the different vaccines and who meanwhile take all the precautions they can. Then throw into that triggering family members and friends. Not to mention positive antibody tests which might mean not needing the vaccination for sufficient immunity.
Maybe I am making it more complicated than it should be, but it feels very complicated and is weighing me down.
Knowing how this is a struggle to me, I have let my kids know (the ones that aren’t vaccinated yet) and another young relative who is facing pressure from both sides that they are free to make their own decisions and I won’t give them a hard time either way.
This is an informative interview with a public health official in Wyoming on how they are trying to convince the vaccine-reluctant. Using pop-up clinics at rodeos (!), the help of trusted community leaders, providing scientific information in accessible form, including translations for Spanish and Asian-language speaking communities. With only about 30% vaccinated, they are not yet going after the “hard no” people.
Wyoming is tough, but I think doing the vaccines at Frontier Days will help. My reluctant daughter from Wyoming was going to get it because her employer (Starbucks) will start allowing vaccinated employees to remove their masks starting July 5. The students going back to school will get the vaccines to live in university housing.
People don’t realize how rural most of Wyoming is. It is a long trip from the ranch to a site with vaccines, so to do them at rodeos will help.
IMO, In the end everyone will own their decision and the process by which they arrived at it. One can arrive at the “correct” action but have completely wrong reasons for doing so. Morally, they are not off the hook. Their motivations matter. That applies to getting the vaccine and it applies to compelling/pressuring others to do so.
I agree that it’s complicated. For Catholics at least, this should be par for the course as the faith is counter-cultural in many ways, not just concerning a vaccine decision.
I can’t remember if I posted here that my son traveling from Beirut to get vaccinated can get the J and J vaccine at a nighttime clinic at the Portland House of Music. I guess they’re going after younger people.
In other news, he got a notice that he could have gotten vaccinated in Beirut on July 19! I don’t think the notice specified which brand. If he’d known that he would get a shot that soon, he probably would not have booked airline tickets back home. I feel bad he spent the money, but I’m glad he’s coming.
Our friend in Cape Town just posted a government notice that people aged 50-59 are now eligible to sign up for a vaccination. I’m glad to see that Lebanon and South Africa are finally beginning to vaccinate more people.
What I found especially interesting were the many different reasons for not getting the vaccine–and the many different strategies for addressing them. Heartening to know that there are people making such a persistent effort.
By getting vaccinated in the US where vaccine is plentiful, he is doing a tiny bit to help alleviate the shortage in Lebanon (i.e. someone in Lebanon can get vaccinated a bit earlier than otherwise).
Well my D’s BF who had covid in Dec was waiting for Novavax and he was very hesitant to get vaccinated due to the newness of the MNRA vaccines, and issues with JnJ. He is actually “pre-med”. He has a job working with Doctors now, and after discussions with them, changed his mind and got vaccinated.
So one down…
I just sent this to a person I know who is put off by vax side effects even though she’s a candidate for someone who wouldn’t do well with Covid (weight, health issues, middle aged):
Which is worse, side effects or Covid?
She probably won’t read it, but if something were to happen, at least I know I tried.
“CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a Thursday White House briefing that preliminary data reviewed by her agency suggests 99.5% of the people who died from Covid-19 over the past six months were unvaccinated, a stunning statistic in support of her assertion that nearly every virus-linked death is now preventable.”
Last night, I saw a friend I haven’t seen for about five years. She is a surgeon, and husband, also a doctor, worked in the covid ward until January. Needless to say, 2020 was very hard on them, but luckily, none of their family got covid.
Talk turned to vaccines, and she told us that she and her whole family had received Moderna and she feels it’s the best vaccine, but that anyone not yet vaccinated should get whatever vaccine they can get first. She said that that Fox et al. are morally reprehensible and that unvaccinated people should be running, not walking, to get vaccinated ASAP because the Delta variant is that bad. She feels horribly sorry for those who are going to die from what could have been prevented. She said it makes her angry too. Her frustration made me feel badly for her.
Anyway, just wanted to remind people that there are medical professionals, celebrating the 4th just like everyone else, who wish they could help people see sense. They suffer too when they see people choose to play a game of chance with their health. And it’s even more upsetting because those who can’t get vaccinated rely on those of us who can.
I’ve heard Novavax might be used for boosters in the US, but, yes, it doesn’t seem like there will be a plentiful supply or any guarantee that I will be able to find it when it is approved.
It doesn’t look like that’s new news. It looks like the one already reported in this thread (or maybe another one?) back in mid-June when it happened.
I’m guessing Fox just wants to keep it fresh in people’s minds?
I feel for all who die from the vax (regardless of whether this young lad died from that or not) and the multiple others who die from Covid or its after-effects.
No matter which way one looks at it, it’s an ugly disease. However, if one wants to compare odds, except for true medical issues, usually allergies for what’s in the vax, people have better odds of beating it with a vax than without it.
I am so drained with some non-covid things right now. Maybe some good Sammaritan will say to me, get the vax and I will take care of you afterward. But my husband could not manage alone right now if I were to take a vaccine holiday.