Vaccine reluctance & General COVID Discussion

Last night, shortly before our student lead prom, our Governor removed all mask mandates and social distancing requirements (with exceptions). I am soooo thankful that my family is vaccinated. We have Covid cases at school- so it’s circulating. Masks were off for about 60% of the kids and it was a little cold, so kids were very close. General public were at the same location. No one had masks. It will be interesting to see how our numbers are in about 10 days.

I feel for people struggling with the decision to vaccinate and those who haven’t had a chance to- there is no protection for them. I wish the Governor would have set a 2 week deadline before getting rid of everything.

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My son in Pennsylvania, got vaccinated as soon as he could as PA was one of the last states to open up for all ages. He got his 2nd dose last week.

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We “your CC friends” say [quote=“MACmiracle, post:1058, topic:3498062”]
I hear you and I’m sorry and I want the best for you
[/quote] Please get vaccinated to protect yourself, protect your family, and get your life back to normal!

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I’m sorry your friends and family are not being supportive. I am also taking a wait and see approach to the vaccine. So far most people seem okay with it, but there are others that aren’t aware yet, and I"m not looking forward to telling them. It’s unfortunate how this has divided people.

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I wish you well with your decision- you have certainly put a lot of thought into it. Easier said than done but try not to worry what others think- both here and in your everyday life.

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I also hear you, and urge you to stick to facts and your own risk/ benefit calculation.

The emotional responses by the anti-vaxxers and the shaming maskers in your social circles say more about them and their lack of empathy, and their own fears, than about your needs and concerns.

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It appears that many of the NIH and FDA employees are also reluctant.

I’m a physician at one of the agencies mentioned. This article is very misleading! It was only recently that staff in non-patient care positions were eligible for vaccination at our agency. The vast majority of health care professionals (physicians, nurses, etc) received their vaccinations at our agency with enthusiasm as soon as they were eligible. Because we did not know if non-patient care staff would be able to receive vaccine at our agency, it was recommended that whenever possible, they receive their vaccine in the community. Many did (including me!) While the agency requested that people who had received their vaccine elsewhere let them know, not everyone did this. Of those who are still not vaccinated, few are healthcare professionals. Our agency employs >20,000 people, the vast majority of whom are NOT health care professionals, but serve in administrative and support positions–including young people and people in administrative and support positions (such as maintenance staff) who may be vaccine hesitant. Our agency has been great about answering employee’s questions about the vaccine, and encouraging (but not mandating) their vaccination. I can tell you with certainly that most medical professionals in federal health care agencies are convinced of the safety and efficacy of the mRNA vaccines, and have encouraged all of our family and friends to be vaccinated ASAP!

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I don’t know how it’s misleading. It’s simply the heads of the agencies estimating what percent of their employees are believed to be vaccinated whether they got it in house or in the community centers. That issue was mentioned in an answer which you would hear if you played the video. Obviously the agencies employ people in various positions from experts to administrators to facilities maintenance - just like every other large organization. Given that the vaccine has been available to the general public for quite some time now and the agencies are the ones pushing it, I did find it interesting that the rate pretty much mirrors that of the general public.

All the MDs and dentists I know and have communicated with were vaccinated as soon as the vaccine was available to them, as were their family members. This including MD nursing moms and their loved ones. They did want to wait their turn and not cut ahead if people treating folks with covid, but did not hesitate once the vaccine was available to them.

FDA and NIH offices are in areas that probably have high vaccine enthusiasm, so those areas probably reached easy availability of vaccine relatively late (even if eligibility for all was announced earlier, it may not have been easy to get an appointment until later). The later areas for reaching easy availability of vaccine probably reached that point in late April to early May, so there may be a significant number of people who are not fully vaccinated despite wanting to be (though they may have started the process). Those who got the J&J - Janssen vaccine then are likely close to being fully vaccinated, but it appears that Pfizer - BioNTech and Moderna are more common, which means that those who started those vaccines then will not be fully vaccinated until mid-June.

Yes, it may look different in areas where there is high vaccine reluctance, which resulted in easy vaccine availability being reached earlier (e.g. early April or even earlier in some areas).

Because the sub-headline says “federal medical professionals” are a low percentage when what @MomOf3 is saying it’s not the “medical professionals” who aren’t getting vaccinated. She reports that “the vast majority of health care professionals (physicians, nurses, etc) received their vaccinations…with enthusiasm as soon as they were eligible.”

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One of my elderly neighbors was reluctant to get the vaccine. She told me she had allergic reactions to other vaccines. One of her siblings decided to get the vaccine three weeks ago. Within 24 hours she went from being self sufficient to being lethargic, not eating and not being able to care for herself. She progressively got worse, never recovered and died this past Friday. Perhaps it’s totally coincidental or a perhaps there’s a genetic link that caused the entire issue. Either way my neighbor will surely not be getting vaccinated now and I agree with her decision for herself.

I’m fully vaccinated but I don’t care to see others coerced into having to take the vaccine to participate in activities. It’s a personal decision and we all have different views and circumstances. Maybe it’s a one in million chance but that should be up to us as individuals.

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The website you cite is not credible.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/national-file/

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While the website might not be considered “credible” that doesn’t change the information provided via the video. Sometimes it’s hard to find information shared on “credible” sources but a video is a video. I believe the post specifically talked about the video. Does it really matter where the video in question was shared from?

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I see now…I tend to skip headlines because they are so often misleading. I focused on the video because it’s the primary material.

Are you saying that the actual video is not credible? Or just the website? It’s not a usual website that I visit but I did watch the video to see what Fauci, Marks and Walenski actually said. And again…found it interesting because it was not what I would have expected. That is all.

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ITP tends to travel genetically with a few other autoimmune diseases - Sjogrens, Psoriasis and Karatoconus. My husband’s Mom has Sjogrens and ITP. My husband has Sjogrens, Psoriais and Karatoconus thus is a likely carrier of ITP also. My D shows signs of both ITP and Sjogrens.

It actually isn’t clear yet that the MRna vaccine is safe for people with these conditions. The data set is much too small and on top of that, autoimmune issues usually develop over a long timeline. They are difficult to diagnose and it’s difficult to know what sets them off. I think it’s safer to wait until there’s some long term data available before making a decision to vaccinate. We’ve all had Covid and managed to recover. I’m not terribly afraid of it at this point in time.

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I don’t trust a video from a website that is shown to be not credible. If the information is valid, it should be cited from a credible source.

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Anecdotes are not useful. I could cite you an equal or greater number of stories I’m personally familiar with, such as the couple, an air traffic controller and a jet fighter pilot instructor (and the wife is the fighter pilot!), who got severe cases. The husband has been taken off duty because of lingering heart issues. It is not wise to minimize COVID just because you happened to be fortunate and get a light case.

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