Interestingly, our paediatrician in the US gave us a long lecture about why vaccines are important and this and that. He's an older gentleman and wouldn't brook any of my interruptions that I've been through this and to please proceed with the vaccination schedule and that I've had measles[0] when I was a young child and have no intention of subjecting my children to it. Presumably his insistence on the subject was because of hesitancy.
In the end, we got the usual ones but didn't give our daughter the COVID vaccine. I can't say it's a super principled position, except that I think I do want to minimize the number of vaccinations she gets to the ones that are the highest risk for her. That's the usual meningococcal, hepatitis for a neonate; the Tdap for an infant, and the subsequent measles et al. for older children. I think I'm content to leave the tail risk items in the tail.
0: I was eight months old, my parents were the only doctors in the rural Indian village, and consequently a local brought their very sick child to our home. The child was in the room for just a few moments before my mother rushed me to the other room. As it so happened it was too late for me. I became quite sick as well.
> Presumably his insistence on the subject was because of hesitancy.
> In the end, we got the usual ones but didn't give our daughter the COVID vaccine
Perhaps the doctor deserves some slack.
I should have known better than to mention that. For obvious reasons this one virus is a bit of a politicized subject and activates the outrage machine.
I've got no problem with our paediatrician. Rather like him, if I'm being honest. Wouldn't be going back for every subsequent appointment if I did have a problem. The "long lecture" bit is more affectionate than complaining.
Covid is not a tail risk.
Additionally, by not getting a vaccine, you potentially put people at risk who cannot get a vaccine -- immunocompromised folks, etc. Vaccinating your child also protects everyone in their communities.
Choosing not to vaccinate because you want to limit the number for no expressed reason is vaccine hesitancy. You have expressed a position of vaccine hesitancy here.
Alarmism, militant shaming, and omission of details like the ones I mentioned above are three strategies that steer vaccine hesitant people away from taking vaccine advocates seriously. Personally, I would raise concerns about anything but COVID and ease up on the Newspeak.
Almost literally everyone has and will continue to get COVID at this point. Not vaccinating your child, or all of the children in the US, won’t prevent that. I don’t know a single person that hasn’t had it, vaccinated or not. So, your child gets the vaccine. They’re then, what, maybe 50% less likely to get COVID for 6 months? Not exactly moving the needle as far as community transmission goes. This isn’t 2021 anymore.
If we had a better, longer lasting vaccine you might have an argument. Very, very few parents are going to do the COVID vaccine for their child every year. At the very least you’re risking them picking up something more serious just by going to a clinic or pharmacy to get it.
Anyway I haven't tested since the pandemic so I wouldn't have known if I'd had it afterwards.
I've been exposed three times (twice by my SO) and only tested positive once, but I had symptoms both other times as well.
All my tests for those were done at home and I wouldn't take "I did it wrong" out of my equation.
Could be something like our viral load wasn't high enough to register on the test, maybe our immune systems just dealt well with covid.
Except I like to claim it's because of an intebtional approach
https://wiki.roshangeorge.dev/w/Low_Dose,_Frequent_Exposure
Not very likely, but amusing nonetheless.
You strike an interesting point.
From a scientific PoV, vaccine rejection in the West is pretty much unjustifiable according to mainstream medicine. But the not-worst-case, fairly bad outcome is kinda manageable. Your child gets measles, is probably OK, but if not, goes to an expensive hospital and will probably be fine. Even without vaccinations, it's probably not a life or death scenario. I'm not saying it's good, only that the price tag is likely low.
But of course it's completely different in poorer countries, many places in Africa among them. These are also places with poorer education on average, I'd imagine. And what do they think when the West is sending them (or they're buying out or scarce resources) stuff that we refuse because it's "dangerous"?
And if you get a measles outbreak in Somalia, you won't be worrying about childcare and copayment, it will literally be life and death.
People who peddle anti vaccine BS should think about this too.
What an incredibly selfish point of view. Both for ignoring the risks of measles in your own child, and more importantly, for completely leaving out of the equation the likelihood that they will spread it to someone who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated or for whom the virus is even more dangerous.
> From a scientific PoV, vaccine rejection in the West is pretty much unjustifiable according to mainstream medicine.
The post is against anti-vax.
Imagine saying this about anything else that's good for children. I want to minimize the amount of food she eats. I want to minimize the number of friends she has. Insane mindset, tbh.
For anyone that isn't afraid of needles and a little arm pain, it's worth it for the peace of mind alone.
I think it is a reasonable point of view to not want to be the testbed for vaccines that were also rushed to the market to reap the profits, let me remind you.
Oh and, I've gotten the vaccine. I'm just not tribal about it.
Decisions that take you in opposite directions.
If wars motivated by resource exploitation and class-system were not a thing vaccines would see a limited use.
Unfortunately vaccines are seen as holy totems whose real purpose is to sweep under the rug the real systemic problem.
Just like in ancient years did the idols.
Peacefulz•2h ago