Anyone else a bit wtf? with all the different vaccines?

[Throwaway99]

It's giving me a headache trying to make sense of who is having what vaccine when. And it seems there are new ones every day. I have visions of eventually having several different ones!

No but when we refer to the ‘third world’ we also refer to many countries with a higher GDP than the first world but are lumped in because where they are geographically.

And if you guys care about language it would really help if you stopped using the word ‘moron.’

I’m having mine tomorrow and I’ll take whatever they stick in me 😊

@ChaBishkoot,

I am very happy with ‘moronic’ to describe the language. I am using it according to its actual definition.

www.etymonline.com/word/moron

And I am using it (carefully) to describe the phrase, not the people using it.

And the point is that words LIKE the ‘global south’ or ‘third world’ do have a political connotation. I am not stupid. I am well aware of that.
And there is an agenda behind these terms. And that agenda has often had an actual visceral impact on people’s lives.

To recap:
I used the term ‘third world’ on a MN post.
I am an academic.
I got told off. And got called a moron for using it.
I pointed out that I was aware that it’s controversial. And there are other terms like Global South.
I posted a NPR link about nomenclature in development literature.
I got called a moron again for using the term ‘global south.’

I despair.

I've got issues with the word 'moronic' while we're at it.

People who kick off about adapting their language are usually just awkward types.

I've stopped using loads of words since school days, because the world moves on.

@ChaBishkoot,

So, a subsistence farmer in Malawi (say), worrying about getting his harvest in or whether it will fail is ‘viscerally’ impacted when told he is from a ‘third world’ country but thrilled when told he is from the ‘global South’.

It is not only you who despairs...

And no one called you a moron.

trulydelicious
@ChocOrange1

Do you know which brand of flu jab you had

I do, yes, and I've also read the prospectus carefully

When the dust settles on all of this, it will be necessary to understand exactly the effectiveness and risks of each individual Covid vaccine on each age group and comorbidities so you can assess appropriately which vaccine you take (if you want one)“

I agree with you I always know the brand of flu vaccine I have and read the prospectus. Same if I needed antibiotics. Also know brand of childhood immunisations my children have had so far and read the prospectuses for them. Slightly off topic but I also make sure I know where all food products come from-why would I or allow my children to ingest anything that I didn’t know where it was from? Quite straightforward to me.

@Throwaway99

I'm not denying it's an amazing achievement. It just all seems so, I dunno, chaotic?

Which is understandable I know.

It's not chaotic. When you take your child for vaccinations or get the flu jab yourself, you probably didn't enquire which pharmaceutical company made it. The focus in the media has been on the different companies racing to produce a vaccine - which they have done phenomenally quickly (and thank you to any research scientists reading this!). We're incredibly lucky to be able to receive it so fast. I certainly won't be enquiring about which one it is.

Canada meanwhile has enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone 2-3 times over. Same with the US and UK

No, what they did was invest in the vaccine process to allow them develop it quickly. They gave them a lot of money for trials and research.

This is very different to buying a job lot of vaccine.

The UK owns shares in these companies for these vaccines. How else would the companies get the money to test the vaccines?

The fact that we have more than enough means we can now sell the product to other countries.

Some of these, for example the Oxford vaccine costs £3 per vial others are £25.

The cost will go down and third world countries will get a supply.

Plus the more people who are vaccinated the less chance we have of spreading disease.

@BluebellsGreenbells,

But the only real incentive for developing countries to get vaccinated is money. It protects us far more than them.

Real progress against malaria, dengue and a host of parasitic diseases would matter far more to them, not to mention basic sanitation and nutrition.

There are many places in the world where most will never reach the age where COVID will be life threatening.

Yes he will be viscerally failed if the terms of the loans given to him are worse because he is seen as being from the ‘third world’ or the ‘global South.’
May I point you to towards Edward Said, his book Orientalism and the all of postcolonial theory to show how language impacts the real world?

Global life expectancy is 73. Sub Saharan is around 63. It’s not as low as some people think.

I disagree with some of his stuff but if you want to be surprised by global statistics watch this Ted talk.
www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

@ChaBishkoot,

Global life expectancy is not the correct comparator for COVID vaccinations. Developed country life expectancy is around 80.

And, again, sub Saharan Africa includes a relatively rich area of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia etc. ‘Middle Africa’ still has a life expectancy in the 50s.

The issue with COVID is for countries with a large chunk of the population not only very old but also who expect full medical treatment if they get sick. It is this that places a massive strain on hospitals and wider society. This just is not an issue for most countries that are genuinely poor (or whatever your preferred euphemism is).

Interestingly, from that article I just linked to:

“ As for cigarette smoke, Horovitz told Healthline that if you can smell it, you’re probably too close.”

Sorry, wrong thread!!

But the only real incentive for developing countries to get vaccinated is money

Of coarse it’s money. Show me any situation and you can trace it back to money.

We as a nation can afford to produce and manufacture a vaccine. We have done exactly that. Same for other developed countries.

We can not stop making this happen because third world countries can’t afford it or have other issues.

There are agencies and charities abs WHO dedicated to help those countries, bit their governments need to be on board as well.

The vaccines will get cheaper as the demand reduces.

Lots of vaccines are made by different companies. We don't usually know this much about them though.

The attached is for the flu vaccine - several brands each year.

@ChocOrange1

Do you know which brand of flu jab you had? Which measles vaccine you had as a child? Or even which brand of antibiotics you took last time?

The doctors know what they're doing.

I don’t know for mine, but yes I do have this information about my children’s vaccinations. In their red books there are stickers for each vaccine so I know manufacturer, type and batch number.

@Marmite27 and did you have concerns over which vaccine they are having from a range if options? Do you know the efficacy of that particular vaccine, compared to the alternative?

On their appointment slip it said what vaccine manufacturer they were planning to use, so I could have if I wanted to.

A friend with a same age child at the same surgery was designated a different manufacturer as we compared. No idea why they were different, except one of the kids had a milk allergy so could have been to do with that.

I know what you mean OP. Scientists were saying from the start that the very first vaccines we get might not involve compromise or not be the best ones - that others will come along soon later that are more adaptable (only one dose etc), or more efficacious.