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Comment by bedhead | Hacker News Reader

I'm vaxxed (Moderna), my county has a 97% vaccination rate plus indoor mask mandate, and I just got over covid. It was basically a very mild flu. The idea that we can control this is fantasy, and I do not plan on getting vaccinated again for covid.

I think what people are missing is that getting covid is inevitable, it's not a choice we can make anymore, whereas getting vaccinated is. That throws a monkey wrench into this risk/reward equation where even if the vaccination benefits outweigh the risks, people are worried about the possibility of an own-goal and how stupid they would feel knowing their personal risk profile to covid is basically zero. It's this notion of the possibility - no matter how remote - of self-inflicted harm juxtaposed with the unavoidable outcome of getting covid that messes up the equation, and I don't think it's really that irrational for many people.

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March 2020 I accepted that eventually I would get it. I was a 'critical infrastructure' worker, so I was in the work truck covering multiple states. I got it in January 2021 while unemployed, got through it without medical intervention, and am glad I had taken some efforts to improve my health (eating, exercise, body fat).

I am amazed at the people who are afraid to go outside and exercise, while putting on weight while sitting on couch being scared by TV news and ordering meal delivery.

> and I do not plan on getting vaccinated again for covid.

Look at the graphs of covid deaths overlayed over infections in time per country.

You will clearly see the two waves and now the third with deaths tracing up for each.

Now in countries with high % vaccinations there is barely a bump in deaths. Then look at russia or romania, their deaths are tracking first and second wave pattern.

I dunno how one can make case vaccines have no effect.

Covid might be staying and it sucks, but so far its much more dangerous than flu, I will be vaccinating myself for it as it looks like the best bet.

Lockdowns are probably not going to happen as EVERY single country would have to introduce them and that kind of global coordination is a pipe dream.

You're still going to get covid. "More dangerous than flu" is only true for some and not others. I've had the flu twice and each time ended up in the ER. It just depends. We are very clear about who's at risk from covid but half the world can't seem to process it, their brains blew a fuse with all the fear mongering.

Were you vaccinated vaccinated against flu that time? You are vaccinated against covid, had a light form and you are complaining about what? Not getting severe form?

Are you sure you know how vaccination works?

> It was basically a very mild flu.

Well, yeah, you're vaccinated.

We've known since the original EUA submission data for the Pfizer vaccine that they're highly effective at preventing severe disease.

It's a little odd to go "welp, vaccine didn't work" when it probably did.

I’m also 43 and very healthy. Who knows. The reality is that vaccines aren’t for people like me, the risks are HIGHLY stratified by age and health.

There are plenty of people who were around your age and healthy but got very sever form of covid without vaccination and survived only because they were really healthy and strong (10% of lung capacity was still a lot).

Long covid and hearth problems can appear even after mild disease.

There are many ways you can go from healthy 43 old to chronically ill 43 year old.

You made a right decision to get vaccinated.

> > It was basically a very mild flu.

> Well, yeah, you're vaccinated.

While we're sharing anecdotes, I was unvaccinated when i got Covid and my experience was also that of a mild Flu. Contrasted with my brother in-law who was vaccinated and got Covid at the same time, our symptoms were on par. Same severity and duration.

Again, entirely possible.

This is why we collect data across tens of thousands of people in clinical trials, rather than hoping for anecdotes to be submitted.

Some people get mild COVID. Some get severe. Statistically, the vaccinated are a lot less likely to get the severe sort.

Of course, what from my comment makes you think I disagree with that?

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