Choosing not to get vaccine

[InnerDiscomfort]

Not looking to start a fight, but interested if you have made the decision not to get the vaccine and have no condition that you know of that would stop you, why not?

Family members abroad have decided not to get the vaccine (Pfizer I think). Vague concerns about it not being safe and/ or tested enough. They both work outside the home and have families. Fairly fit and healthy so unlikely to be seriously affected by COVID, under 50 years of age.

It's not something I agree with but up to them I guess. I'm also unlikely to get ill but had my first vaccine mainly to help stop the spread (and I'd like to go abroad!)

So if you haven't had it, I'm interested in your reasoning if you would care to share.

@bumbleymummy

No, I don't think I'm a saint by any means. I'm just doing what any halfway responsible member of society should do. All the people who want to benefit from vaccination programmes while not getting vaccinated themselves are contemptible, however.

Feels cultish to me, too.
All the moral highground attached to it, too.

Who has ever been shamed for not getting an annual flu jab, I wonder?

If you think it's wrong to avoid covid jab, why are you not furious at people who never got flu jabs, too? That's the cult element, driving the indignant intolerant fury.

@lljkk have you been living in a different reality? The world has literally shut down for over a year due to Covid. Things are getting vaguely back to normal thanks to the vaccine.

In contrast, the world does not shut down due to the flu, probably in part because of the high levels of vaccination each year, and partially because it's a well-known disease with well-developed treatment pathways.

[quote gelatodipistacchio]@bumbleymummy

No, I don't think I'm a saint by any means. I'm just doing what any halfway responsible member of society should do. All the people who want to benefit from vaccination programmes while not getting vaccinated themselves are contemptible, however.[/quote]
People don’t necessarily want to benefit from the program without having the vaccine. They just don’t want the vaccine. If they contract the disease and recover they are also contributing to herd immunity. The fact that there are fewer cases around because of higher levels of immunity( due to natural infection as well as the vaccine) isn’t their fault.

Gelato that still doesn't give you the right to call people contemptible for choosing not to have it.

@BonnieDundee why not? I don't think it's any worse than saying a person who gets the vaccine has a cult mentality

[quote gelatodipistacchio]@lljkk have you been living in a different reality? The world has literally shut down for over a year due to Covid. Things are getting vaguely back to normal thanks to the vaccine.

In contrast, the world does not shut down due to the flu, probably in part because of the high levels of vaccination each year, and partially because it's a well-known disease with well-developed treatment pathways.[/quote]
In which reality is there ‘high levels of vaccination’ against flu? We only vaccinate the most at risk groups and the uptake in those groups is quite moderate really. The effectiveness of the flu vaccine can often be quite low as well.

@bumbleymummy this is a challenge facing us all, and we all have to do our parts. If someone wants to opt out of making a small sacrifice to solve an international crisis, then I have the right to think that they are selfish freeloaders.

It's like a pp said - this is akin to a war effort. I think in WWII, people who didn't contribute to the greater good were looked down on. I think the same attitude is fair here.

[quote gelatodipistacchio]@BonnieDundee why not? I don't think it's any worse than saying a person who gets the vaccine has a cult mentality [/quote]
I don’t think everyone who gets the vaccine has a cult mentality but there certainly is something a bit cultish about telling everyone else that they must get it or they are selfish, contemptible anti-vaxxers with no consideration for the ‘greater good’.

@bumbleymummy you're missing the point. The flu hasn't caused the world to literally shut down for over a year.

then I have the right to think that they are selfish freeloaders

You have no fucking right at all to know anyone's medical history.

@bumbleymummy ok. I think there is something selfish about not getting vaccinated and enjoying the holidays, visits with families, and improved economy that results from wide scale vaccination.

To each her own, I suppose!

@MaxNormal obviously if someone has risk factors that make vaccination unusually dangerous, then they should not get vaccinated. But that's all the more reason why anyone who can get vaccinated, should.

[quote gelatodipistacchio]@bumbleymummy this is a challenge facing us all, and we all have to do our parts. If someone wants to opt out of making a small sacrifice to solve an international crisis, then I have the right to think that they are selfish freeloaders.

It's like a pp said - this is akin to a war effort. I think in WWII, people who didn't contribute to the greater good were looked down on. I think the same attitude is fair here.[/quote]
So actually having the virus isn’t ‘doing your part’? Wearing masks, social distancing, working from home, not meeting up with friends and family for months on end. Isn’t ‘doing your part’?

@bumbleymummy those are all short term measures everyone has had to take to reduce transmission until there is a vaccination programme. Doing those things doesn't make someone special. It just means they have done what was necessary at the time to get to this point - and now doing one's part means getting vaccinated.

It's all shit for everyone. I didn't like being trapped in a garden-less flat working full time while looking after my child as a single mum (with no childcare allowed). But like everyone else, I had to suck it up

Same with the vaccine. We all just have to keep marching forward and dealing with the crap that life is throwing us. Some of us want to opt out of the hard parts. I am entitled to think less of them. Again, I'm not a hero for ignoring my fears about the AZ vaccine. I just did what everyone should do. (And thankfully, what most people are doing!)

Haven't rtft. I have no intention of having it, simply because I don't want to have it. I will only have it if I must to go abroad and if not, I'll happily isolate or have a negative test before travelling.

Well having the vaccine doesn’t make you special either. People are ultimately being vaccinated for their own benefit. It shouldn’t be a ‘hard’ decision if that’s what you want. Stand in judgement of others all you like but it says more about you than it does about me. I don’t have a particularly high opinion of you after reading your posts. I don’t have much time for ‘holier than thou’ attitudes.

It’s a pandemic not normal times.
Normal rules don’t apply.
It’s a medical war.

Justa47

It is not a medical war. Patient can always refuse treatment.
It is a choice what would be worse: side effects from vaccine or Covid itself should I get it. People with pre existing conditions should probably go for vaccine as it would help them survive Covid. Healthy ones more than likely would have mild symptoms and develop antibodies. Of course it could all go pear shaped therefore you decision, your life.

Sometimes common sense goes a long way...

There is not one person on this thread who is anti vax, most posters are just making choices based on their circumstances, not judging, not preaching. Just giving their opinion.

But a few obviously think they can judge. Why?

[quote gelatodipistacchio]@bumbleymummy this is a challenge facing us all, and we all have to do our parts. If someone wants to opt out of making a small sacrifice to solve an international crisis, then I have the right to think that they are selfish freeloaders.

It's like a pp said - this is akin to a war effort. I think in WWII, people who didn't contribute to the greater good were looked down on. I think the same attitude is fair here.[/quote]
Small sacrifice?
Wake up! People died as result of the vaccine, a lot have long term effects!

I think that a lot of people on this threat aren't anti vax at all. I'm certainly not. I've had one dose. There is an extremely high level of concern over the AZ jab, and honestly I don't see why alternatives aren't being offered to everyone who wants one.

Small sacrifice?
Wake up! People died as result of the vaccine, a lot have long term effects!

That's all right as its for the greater good apparently

Small sacrifice?
Wake up! People died as result of the vaccine, a lot have long term effects!

You'll be calling us all sheeple next.

@Captpike

Small sacrifice? Wake up! People died as result of the vaccine, a lot have long term effects!

You'll be calling us all sheeple next.

Why? Never said anything of the sort

What you do with your life it is up to you. I just do not appreciate name calling for difference in opinion.

You'll be calling us all sheeple next.

This sort of comment really doesn’t help. It’s just goady. People have been fighting between themselves since the dawn of time but this is getting to another level.

Calling people conspiracy theorist, tin foil hat wearers, anti vaxxers, nuts. It’s just pathetic really. Just because someone had a different view from you or the rhetoric at the moment doesn’t make them crazy, selfish or dangerous.

It’s like when you keep being told “listen to the science!” Oh, but only the science that agrees that you should have the vaccine. The scientists who are skeptical must all be nutcases.

I’m lucky in that I don’t actually know many people because if I encountered any of what I’ve heard on MN in real life it would make me really sad.