Vaccine reluctance & General COVID Discussion

(side note: that guy may have had ADHD. Forgetting medication is common if no accomodation has been set up along with the prescription. Very frustrating for doctors :triumph: but when itā€™s AHDH, ie., not willful, itā€™s fixable!)

It was days like this one described here that made me quit working ICU. But to have almost every day be like this would be torture. If this continues, the crisis will simply get worse and worse as healthcare workers leave the field.

People argue that nursing schools continue to churn out new grads. True. But we need the seasoned, experienced nurses there to teach and supervise the new nurses. They simply do not come out of nursing school ready to tackle these kinds of serious issues. I am very frightened about what is going to happen to our already limping healthcare system.

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Wow, the stupidity of humans never ceases to amaze. I had to look up this story and found this broadcast on Fox, which I clicked on out of interest. Fascinating presentation. They completely steer clear of saying ā€œdonā€™t do this, itā€™s dangerous.ā€ Instead, they say ā€œtalk to a professional first.ā€ Why not just state that this is putting people in the hospital? Itā€™s this kind of irresponsible reporting that continues to put people at risk. Mind boggled.

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How do you feel about COVID in general then?

The efficacy rates for the COVID vaccine are fantastic relative to vaccines in general. Seems to me your worry is misplaced.

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Maybe someone reading this in the UK wants to enroll in this study.

A lot of lower SES in my area (for the most part immigrant families) do their shopping in the late evening - often with their kids in tow - and long after the pharmacy is closed. When Mom and Dad are working 12 hour shifts 8 - 8 they arenā€™t going to be able to make it to the pharmacy on most days. (Note, many times these families work weekends too). What they need is basically door-to-door service that can accommodate their frantic schedules. Some localities offer that - others donā€™t.

I found another article about the anti-parasitic treatment. What I donā€™t understand at this point isā€”unless I missed itā€”that thereā€™s no mention in any part of the discussion about this being used in vaccinated people for breakthrough infections or for vaccinated people who must travel to high prevalence areas or go into high risk situations. A study of unvaccinated people is fine for 2020, but a study that at least includes vaccinated people seems even better for 2021.

Iā€™m vaccinated for school. I also had covid in January. I tested for antibodies before I got the vaccine and they were high.

In general, Iā€™m not worried about myself but I worry for my parents and grandparents. I lost two older uncles to Covid so I know itā€™s serious. I also know people who have been vaccinated and now are getting breakthrough infections.

I understand how some people may be hesitant to get vaccinated. There has been so much mixed messaging and politicization - people donā€™t know who to trust. Iā€™m fine with personal choice.

I notice on these boards where people are actually almost rooting for the unvaxxed to get really sick - like this will teach them a lesson. I find that reprehensible. I feel like this virus has brought out the worst in people. (including doctors who wonā€™t treat unvaccinated people - NOT sick just unvaccinated!

It also disturbs me when a politician ( who is vaccinated) gets covid leads the ā€œother sideā€ to claim some type of moral victory almost rooting and cheering about it. It comes from media, politicians, celebrities and every day people. Itā€™s disturbing. Itā€™s like cheering on a smoker to get lung cancer. - that will teach them not to smoke. (as the govā€™t loves that cigarette tax $$) -health be damned in that case.

I only came back on here to respond to your question - but I wonā€™t be reading this particular thread anymore because itā€™s a microcosm of everything wrong in society today. Hopefully one day we find our way back and have more compassion and understanding for eachother.

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  • Yesterday, without any supporting evidence, you were casting doubt on the storage and handling practices of the vaccine by pharmacists and at vaccination sites everywhere.
  • Today you are recommending that readers in the UK sign up for study of a drug that has been irresponsibly touted as an alternative to vaccination, and that thus far has not been shown to be an effective treatment.
  • And you are now linking to a meta study that relies on a study that had serious problems and has been retracted, as will be the study you just posted:

Editorā€™s Note: Open Forum Infectious Diseases issued an "expression of concern"about the study by Hill et al., following the retraction of a key study included in the meta-analysis. Hill et al. will submit a revised version of their analysis, as will the paper you link, once it is revised.

It almost seems like you see more promise an unproven parasite treatment than the current, highly successful and effective vaccine rollout. I donā€™t yet know what youā€™ll be concerned about tomorrow, but I can guess which direction your concern will cut.

Donā€™t me wrong. I have no issues with the PRINCIPLE trial, but so far . . .

Overall, the reliable evidence available does not support the use of ivermectin for treatment or prevention of COVIDā€19 outside of wellā€designed randomized trials.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015017.pub2/full

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02081-w

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Just to tag on hereā€¦ I grew up quite poor, with high school graduate parents, and I was raised to treat doctors and hospitals as a necessary evil to be avoided unless the benefit clearly outweighs the cost. And the cost is high. Definitely there was no trust relationship. I have said this before, but when a poor uninsured (or underinsured) person receives medical care in our country, it is a very different experience from when a person with decent insurance receives medical care.

Out of curiosity, how many of you have an established primary care physician? I donā€™t, even today with decent medical insurance. (I had a great doctor two moves ago, but since then no one that I trust.) I donā€™t think most people brought up like me have one; in the generation after me I gather it is even more rare. In my family we donā€™t talk about medical care. My father had a TIA a few years back and that is when we learned he has no doctor. Sadly, I think people brought up like me are much more common that you might think, and much more likely to rely on Dr. Facebook or Dr. Google for their medical questions. In my opinion this situation is a large part of why we are in this particular mess. (One way or another, it was going to become a mess. COVID was just first on the scene.)

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During the early phases of the pandemic, I held out hope that therapeutic treatments would be developed that would help people with severe cases of the virus survive. Although some treatments showed initial promise, it seems that they are useless against the Delta variant, which is discouraging. So that leave us with vaccines as the only real defense at this point.

I received my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the end of February. I take public transportation to work every day and I am starting to worry about how protected I am after six months. I hope I will be able to get a booster sooner rather than later.

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There has not been mixed messaging from physicians, virologists, epidemiologists pharmacists, public health experts, or nurses. That is a claim folks who are watching anti vax politicians and media pundits make.

I guess if you believe those people are reliable sources of medical information, that messaging IS mixed with what you are hearing from actual health experts. Unless you are one of the rare patients who has a condition that makes the vaccine ill advised, I can almost guarantee your physicianā€™s (or local docsā€™ if you donā€™t have a physician) messaging has been remarkably consistent: mask up and get vaxxed.

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  1. I canā€™t believe Iā€™m the only one who has ever wondered about the handling of those specific vaccines that required extremely low temperatures. But maybe Iā€™m the only one here who voiced that in the context of choosing a site for my own vaccination. Does that mean I cast doubt on how vaccines are handles everywhere?
  2. I think enrolling is clinical trials is extremely admirable and volunteers benefit society at possible risk to themselves. Without all those who volunteered for the covid vaccine trials, where would we be today?
  3. I apologize for linking a study that had data retracted. I knew of a meta-analysis where that happened but I didnā€™t know the study I linked was related.

Why does it have to be black and white? I think itā€™s wrong to think treatments should be looked at as competitors to vaccination. The stark reality is some people will get sick. Donā€™t we want to have therapies to treat them, more than we have now?

I am curious about science and open minded. Nothing I share is meant as a threat to vaccination. Iā€™m sorry you see it that way. Again, I think people here are smarter than you seem to give them credit for.

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Vaccine reluctance is not just in the US. Many countries with adequate supplies of vaccine are having the same problem convincing citizens to take the shot, including France, Germany and Switzerland.

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By consequences, I meant restrictions put in place for those who arenā€™t vaccinated (of course, as usual, NOT referring to those with valid medical reasons for non-vaccination). By ā€œnegativeā€ I meant they canā€™t do this, wonā€™t be allowed to do that, etc.

Iā€™d be happy to let themselves infect themselves, were it not that they would also be affecting others. I donā€™t know how the ā€œgreater goodā€ of public health somehow has become ā€œminority ruleā€ in the U.S.

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It seems some have forgotten that along with their rights come responsibilities. Responsibilities such as not infecting others with covid, or doing the right thing for the public good, or overwhelming hospitals.

Has anyone seen data on the number of heart attack and stroke victims or car crash victims who have died because the healthcare system is overwhelmed and they couldnā€™t get timely care? This is happening every day in areas where there are no hospital beds, inadequate staff, and/or no ambulance to get to oneā€™s home in time.

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I want to follow up on some posts I made last night in case anyone could misinterpret them.

I posted a link to an article and a research study that is recruiting participants in the UK to investigate ivermectin as a covid therapy. In the US it is currently listed among antivirals on the NIH covid therapies website where there is a clear warning about using veterinary products in humans. The NIH website doesnā€™t recommend for or against as a covid therapy and states further students are needed. The FDA has not approved it for covid treatment. In any case, itā€™s something that one should discuss with oneā€™s doctor as there have been cases in the news of people doing harm to themselves.

The studies that Iā€™ve seenā€”one of which had data questionedā€”that called this potential therapy promising took place prior to Delta. Meanwhile, a group of icu doctors who advocated the use of ivermectin since last year recently tweeted a warning that it is no longer working as efficaciously in the ICUs where people are now deteriorating much more quickly. They now emphasize early treatment.

While I strongly support research into all potential therapies, as well as freedom of expression and honest, non-political, and prudent discussions of them, I would never want anyone to choose not to be vaccinated and take risks thinking there is a safe, effective, easily accessible treatment waiting for them should they become ill as I donā€™t think that is the case.

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