Coronavirus

It's crazy how many people are more afraid of the cure than the disease. Especially a disease which can have severe long-term consequences even for survivors.

edulis wrote: Money does indeed talk, I hope more companies offer incentives to get the vaccine. I work in a prison and its crazy how many guards are turning down the vaccine, which it literally being brought to them at work.

+++ this. The social cost of the disease to organizations is so immense that it's easy to justify even what look like large payments to get people to take the vaccine if they are able.

FFS, the selfish mindset of American culture is what kills me. The Reagan era did so much to damage to the cultural outlook of this country. I've talked to a couple people who were cagey about the vaccine and I was like: "You remember polio, don't you? You don't? You know why you don't? Because everyone got the vaccine to wipe it out in this country! That's how vaccines work. It isn't just about you. It's about you and everyone else around you."

And the worst thing is that it isn't even the warped outlook of general anti-vaxxers that's driving a lot of the resistance. It's people who don't want to admit that they were wrong about COVID. Yes, it's really a big deal. No, it doesn't matter that you said it wasn't before this. No one should hold that against you now because you weren't in a position to drive public policy about it. You're just a deluded Fox News watcher. Just get the damn vaccine and let's move on.

If the populace had been getting their "information" from a Facebook feed back in the day, I'm sure polio would still be alive and well.

ubarose wrote: I kind of understand it though. Politics and anti-vaxxers aside, for the average person medical information can be confusing and contradictory, and having that trusted family doctor that has the time to explain an advise is no longer the norm.

That's true. And I'm sounding more harsh than I usually am to people. Certainly, beating them over the head in the tone I posted isn't going to make things better. I'm just aggravated that people have been instructed to do exactly what makes it worse for them and for everyone else in the name of something not even connected to the problem. Hotseat is exactly right. It just demonstrates how little we've progressed past the damn Middle Ages in some respects.

It’s the deadbeat game. There’s a miniscule risk in vaccines, and plenty of parents know that if they drag their feet and complain enough everyone around them will get vaccinated and provide them protection at no charge. It predates Covid. I used to deal with it with mothers in my old neighborhood. One of them was pissed when she found out other parents were doing the same thing she was and our elementary school was falling below minimum guidelines. She was honestly pissed off that her kids might have to get standard childhood vaccines because everyone else in the school wasn’t getting vaccinated.

Now it’s just writ-large, with more reasons involving self-identity in the mix. Plenty of people out there thinking, “if I wait until September I’ll be good, it won’t be around anymore. My problem is solved.”

Deadbeats.

My boss just brought home Covid from her kid’s day care. Our high school just notified us of two new infections. It’s still out there, take the shot.

I got my second shot last night. It's a huge weight off that has been omnipresent for so long now. My wife gets hers next week.

In hindsight, I was still feeling a little under the weather for two days after getting the first vaccination. I can tell now, because by Monday night I started feeling a lot more energetic, just in time to help a couple of (masked) friends load a truck with firewood for a homeless camp. Today, I feel better than I have in about a year. I think that means one of two things. Either I was an asymptomatic case with mild long-term fatigue, or more likely, a low-grade constant fear of the virus and the irresponsibility of so many of my fellow Americans has been exhausting. Either way, this first vaccination already has me feeling good. I look forward to getting my second dose on April 17th, even though I will probably feel worse for a couple of days after.

Hearing about personal friends family refusing vaccination is heartbreaking and maddening. My spouse's ~90s grandmother is refusing it bc of misinformation in her politics.

Who wants to trust all of these coastal elites?

I got lucky and snagged a last minute appointment at my local pharmacy for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Sunday afternoon. Felt like complete garbage all day Monday but woke up yesterday feeling amazing. I do think a lot of it is psychological. Subsiding fear mixed with the excitement of getting to hang out with friends and family again sometime soon.