Dealing with "I'm not having the vaccine because my friend had it and said his dick fell off" and other stories..

[flashbac]

Ok the dick falling off is an exaggeration but I'm just so tired of this. I now don't know anyone who isn't sceptical about the jab and my pleas fall on deaf ears because there's always some story of so and so "whose legs stopped working after his jab".

I'm just ranting really. Worried about loved ones.

I would never belittle someone's genuine concerns about getting a vaccine, but there's a world of difference between someone being a bit worried about personal risk / benefit and those who have gone down the 5G / Bill Gates / nanobot rabbit hole.

The former IME you can generally agree to disagree with. The latter do rather tend to bang on about it.

Sadly I lost a friend during the pandemic because while I could say my piece and then drop it regarding her personal vaccination status, I could not shut up and watch her spreading misinformation all over her social media and questioning the intelligence of those of us who took a different view. T

I'd love to know how you convince people out of the genuinely bonkers views. Anecdata but everyone I know who's dipped their toe into the online anti-vax stuff as gone further and further into conspiracy theories. It's like a cult.

@Fluffycloudland77

I work with a nurse who says when 5G is turned on we'll all die. Quite evangelical about it too.

Yeah I get people saying this to me, but haven't we had 5g for quite a while now?

These threads remind me of the brexit threads from a couple of years ago.

“Thick!”

The vaccine hesitant are the new leavers.

Except of course it’s not that black and white. There are plenty of remainers who are vaccine hesitant.

People need to stop being so black and white. Picking a ‘side’ and feeling the need to defend it at all costs. We need to start discussing the grey areas more.

Yes of course people may have chosen not to have the vaccine for themselves despite thinking it's good that it's available for other people, I'm more meaning in relation to people who think overall the vaccine is dangerous or a bad idea.

And yes to polarisation. Issues never used to be like that but they have been recently. Trans issues, brexit, American politics, the most recent UK election.

Is it social media? We have the ability to curate the media we follow like never before. It used to be you had the choice of a handful of papers, a few radio stations and 3-4 TV news channels. Is this an accidental side effect of that personalisation or is it more targeted than that? It's sinister. I'm guessing a bit of both in all likelihood. I know I'm guilty of getting my news from social media. There are not many news sources I consume directly.

The problem is that you can end up feeling that your "side" is the obvious one to be on and everyone on the other side is deluded, nasty or stupid. Which doesn't encourage engagement with the opposite side nor finding the grey area in the middle.

I think its the news media, pushed on to social media, pushed on to people who stumble into, is the term echo chambers?

I really believe that the media has a lot to answer for. I think its criminal what they do and get away with.

Well the latest being shared on SM by my full blown conspiracy theoy friend is that your Life Insurance is invalid if you have vaccine and than goes on to tell us sheple to wake up. I just ignore as we were good friends but my tolerance is waning.

@BertieBotts

I think this is the problem. People who have weighed up risk/benefit and decided against taking their vaccine are being tarred with the same brush as the true anti-vax conspiracy theorists. In the same way that people who, on balance, felt we would be better off out of the EU were called racists.

I do agree that social media is a lot to blame. It breeds ‘fear of the other’. And it’s more important than ever to consume news from different, reliable sources. Sources that aren’t UK-focused are a good idea too. I like Reuters. Otherwise you risk trapping yourself in an echo chamber and the result is that you fear and judge anyone with a different view. That’s why we get the bigoted, blinkered and arrogant people up thread (who seem, mercifully, to have all disappeared!)

@Svara

You are being horribly dismissive of vaccine injuries. These are real people whose lives have been dramatically changed for the worse. Would you be so dismissive of someone whose health was damaged by Covid?

This. Coming from someone who is still suffering from my second pfizer and my sister is still suffering after her first Oxford vaccine. I'm not anti vax, but there are many people who have long term side effects from tjr vaccines. I would never tell someone with long covid it was in their head or placebo effect.

I was told that her husband was a trainee medium and the spirits had told them not to have the vaccine. This was said with utter conviction and I'll never know how I managed not to react hysterically.

"Svara
You are being horribly dismissive of vaccine injuries. These are real people whose lives have been dramatically changed for the worse. Would you be so dismissive of someone whose health was damaged by Covid?"

Absolutely this. I can't get over the crippling double standards when it comes to everything Covid. I could apply the same "Ugh that's clearly a total exaggeration" to anyone with an unusual Covid side effect.

I think it's just fashionable to laugh at anyone with a jab side effect...Never have been a slave to fashion.

The vaccine hesitant are being influenced by the bonkers antivaxxers though.

I have a friend going through this at the moment. She is not anti-vaccines in general but is hesitant about the covid vavcine. I understand that and wouldn't judge people going through it. But I know that some of her (bonkers) conspiracy friends are filling her head with utter bollocks and sadly they are very skilled at it.

I try to counteract this misinformation with good reliable data and well sourced info but I'm up against obsessed nutters and my friend, at her age especially, is still at risk because she has never had a positive covid or antibody test and has never had even a single dose of the vaccine. She's quite possibly totally immune system naive. Not a good place to be

here goes; youngest ds has a hx of pericarditis with his last vaccines (hepatitis one several years back), the vaccine also triggered an autoimmune condition and he's allergic to all anti-inflammatories as well as a few other medications.
he's scared not a true antivaxxer. fine
his older brother developed persistent myocarditis since his second shot in November (he has never tested postive for covid lives in a tiny village that didn't have any cases for a very very long time) either way he is now 39 and unable to walk around the block without shortness of breath or his hr spiking to 120. yes he's being followed up as one of those "special rare" cases.
that's in family i know of a few other friends of friends who also have had cardiac side effects. i wonder why these people are silenced.

@Flaxmeadow

The vaccine hesitant are being influenced by the bonkers antivaxxers though.

I have a friend going through this at the moment. She is not anti-vaccines in general but is hesitant about the covid vavcine. I understand that and wouldn't judge people going through it. But I know that some of her (bonkers) conspiracy friends are filling her head with utter bollocks and sadly they are very skilled at it.

I try to counteract this misinformation with good reliable data and well sourced info but I'm up against obsessed nutters and my friend, at her age especially, is still at risk because she has never had a positive covid or antibody test and has never had even a single dose of the vaccine. She's quite possibly totally immune system naive. Not a good place to be

That is making the assumption that these people are incapable of making a decision themselves though.

If they choose not to have the vaccine, it's because they have been influenced by antivaxxers. If they choose to have it, it's because they're following the science.
Basically, the only right choice is by following the science. For the majority, yes, it probably is. But not for everybody and I think its really shit that people can't make that decision without being lumped with "antivaxxers"

I have bonkers friends who believe bonkers things, but I can use my own brain to know that what they believe is probably bonkers and so I smile and nod. I dont believe them just because they believe. No matter how often they might share their bonkers thoughts with me.

Why do people assume that everyone who doesn't want this vaccine must not be thinking properly?

That is making the assumption that these people are incapable of making a decision themselves though

I don't have to make assumptions about the people influencing my friend. I know them, I know the shite they peddle.

These are people who appear to be reasonable and caring on the surface, always posting food bank info, NHS appeals, community action groups, homeless charities and so on but they're also covid deniers and I mean they deny it even exists, to the extent that when one of them was hospitalised with covid and almost died they didnt inform any contacts and have not told anyone on their social media that it was covid. After all, in their bonkers world there is no covid. The only way one or two people do know is because it all slipped out, but the vast majority who know them are not aware.

They also deny the holocaust. So no sorry, I have no truck with these fucking idiots whatsover.

@Flaxmeadow

That is making the assumption that these people are incapable of making a decision themselves though

I don't have to make assumptions about the people influencing my friend. I know them, I know the shite they peddle.

These are people who appear to be reasonable and caring on the surface, always posting food bank info, NHS appeals, community action groups, homeless charities and so on but they're also covid deniers and I mean they deny it even exists, to the extent that when one of them was hospitalised with covid and almost died they didnt inform any contacts and have not told anyone on their social media that it was covid. After all, in their bonkers world there is no covid. The only way one or two people do know is because it all slipped out, but the vast majority who know them are not aware.

They also deny the holocaust. So no sorry, I have no truck with these fucking idiots whatsover.

I was talking more about your friend and others who are vaccine hesitant having their own minds to make their own decisions. You're making the assumption that they are incapable of also recognising the shite they peddle. Just because they have decided against this vaccine.

TheChip

Well that's why I said in my post that I understand my friend. I get it, that people are nervous, hesitant, scared of having the vaccine. I'm not judging those people at all.

My point was that these everyday nervous people are being influenced by the nutters. My friend is and I know it. I can tell by what is being said. Yes she thinks those people are wrong about a lot of things, even laughs at them sometimes, but then she will parrot what they say about the covid vaccine. My friend is vulnerable and nervous anyway and isolated and they reinforce it. They have scared her shitless over the vaccines. I honestly don't know what I'd do or say if I saw them in the street

@Flaxmeadow

TheChip

Well that's why I said in my post that I understand my friend. I get it, that people are nervous, hesitant, scared of having the vaccine. I'm not judging those people at all.

My point was that these everyday nervous people are being influenced by the nutters. My friend is and I know it. I can tell by what is being said. Yes she thinks those people are wrong about a lot of things, even laughs at them sometimes, but then she will parrot what they say about the covid vaccine. My friend is vulnerable and nervous anyway and isolated and they reinforce it. They have scared her shitless over the vaccines. I honestly don't know what I'd do or say if I saw them in the street

Ah, I get you. Sorry, I thought you were saying that all those who are hesitant are hesitant because of anti vaxxers.

Ah, I get you. Sorry, I thought you were saying that all those who are hesitant are hesitant because of anti vaxxers

No you're right, not all. But this the first time we've had a serious global pandemic alongside social media/t' tinternet

30 years ago the vast majority of people would have just taken NHS advice and trotted down to their local vaccine centre and a jab, not thought any more about it. Now we have the internet and so much misinformation. My friend, who is not particularly internet savvy, is being bombarded by these loons with memes and links to spurious websites. They might look reasonable at first glance but many of them turn out to be misinformation. She will send me them and I will go through it. 9 times out of 10 its utter nonsense

global pandemic

I shouldn't have said that bit, I know 😅🙄

@fallfallfall

here goes; youngest ds has a hx of pericarditis with his last vaccines (hepatitis one several years back), the vaccine also triggered an autoimmune condition and he's allergic to all anti-inflammatories as well as a few other medications. he's scared not a true antivaxxer. fine his older brother developed persistent myocarditis since his second shot in November (he has never tested postive for covid lives in a tiny village that didn't have any cases for a very very long time) either way he is now 39 and unable to walk around the block without shortness of breath or his hr spiking to 120. yes he's being followed up as one of those "special rare" cases. that's in family i know of a few other friends of friends who also have had cardiac side effects. i wonder why these people are silenced.

Who is silencing them? You know about it so he must have spoken about it to somebody. And we have all read about these cases in the news.

Why have you put rare in quotation marks as though one person means something isn't rare?

Those kinds of side effects are rare but some people get them. That's why it's in the news, recommendations etc. Besides everyone knows someone with something rare. My sister has two colours in one eye, that's rare. My son was born with his urethra in the wrong place, that's relatively common but it was the first time I'd heard of it, so seemed rare to me.

Rare doesn't mean something never happens, it just means that it happens to relatively few people. Those people have friends, family, etc of course so the circle of "I know someone who had a serious side effect" is wider than "I had a serious side effect".

OP, the title of your post made me laugh so much .....thank you!😄