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Comment by agentgumshoe | Hacker News Reader

The problem is, the vaccinated are still dying and going to hospital in increasing numbers while also (if the lancet etc are correct) carrying higher viral load and spreading the virus faster. It's not clear the vaccine end goal is a net benefit if the virus is not stopped, while also risking for evolution of hotter virus variants. The shame is that the unvaccinated are treated as some lower class almost criminals, when the whole point of the vaccine drive was supposed to be about protecting the vulnerable. Most people now seem to think the unvaccinated are walking around with covid holding hands all the time, with the vaccinated still fearful of them. It's irrational.

What is the point of the passport if you can do effective pre-testing and the vaccine does not prevent covid in itself?

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I just think that it's a shame so many resources go to waste into treating infected unvaccinated people (they have a higher chance of ending up in the hospital) when we could redirect those resources to people that can't avoid hospitalisation with something as easy as getting a vaccine. Many scientists have been saying for months now that the vaccine might not be that effective in protecting against an infection but that it surely helps in not ending up in the hospital. I would have absolutely no problem with people refusing the vaccine if they didn't end up putting the healthcare system at risk. My home country of Romania is plagues by these cases and I have relatives that ended up having to wait for at least 3 to 4 hours for a broken bone that would've been handled in no longer than 20 minutes before. People I know, people with cancer need to postpone their operations since hospitals are working at maximum capacity. With that being said, we are living in extreme situations right now and action is needed. Vaccines might not be THAT effective in preventing infections (since people just go about their lives after getting the jab), but it surely helps with not overflowing the hospitals.

But the vaccinated are still ending up in hospital in increasing numbers. It's not that simple. Also, it amazingly continues to remain anecdotal instead of receiving proper media/scientific investigation, but the side effect profile is nowhere near as small as reported. Considering the affected are mostly younger, it is concerning the level of dismissal directed at this, rather instead a trusting statements from the vaccine manufacturers (who have immunity) instead. There needs to be a bit more critical thinking here.

My small sample of people would suggest that side effects are a lot worse than we are told. I know two people who took a first dose (one AZ, one Pfizer) and have been seriously ill and for months since. What should they do if vaccine passports come in? Miss out on their lives, or risk taking a 2nd dose, then face turmoil again for a 3rd, 4th .... ?

> Also, it amazingly continues to remain anecdotal instead of receiving proper media/scientific investigation, but the side effect profile is nowhere near as small as reported.

I may be misreading what you write, but are you putting together "media attention" and "scientific attention"?

In this crisis as in everything else, media have the attention span of a goldfish and considerably less attention to detail. In this crisis as in everything else, scientists, on the other hand, are working hard to obtain and study serious data, something that may very well take years.

And then there are people (not claiming you're among them) who are angry at scientists because media are not doing their work and who prefer taking the word of charlatans because - big surprise - since they don't need scientific rigor, or sometimes even real data, they can find answers to all questions.

Not a big fan of where this is all going.

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