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Comment by tensor | Hacker News Reader

The media was fine on the covid shots and if you're not taking them then you're doing yourself and your family harm. Yes, there are side effects. Those side effects are far far milder than the actual illness, which you are pretty much guaranteed to get. So your option are mild side effect + mild disease or severe disease.

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Those are not the options. COVID is exceedingly mild for many people (if I've ever had it, I didn't notice), and severe only for a few. The risk needs to be evaluated in relation to each person.

I rarely get sick. I haven't had flu or even a cold in at least 10 years. I don't get flu vaccines because in my estimation I don't need them. By contrast, for something like tetanus vaccines, I do get those periodically as my hobbies expose me to cuts and dirt.

These are in fact the options. "I'm special" is common but wrong thinking. These likelihood numbers apply to you too. If you want to gamble that you'll get few side effects from covid, then great news your odds of getting side effects from the vaccine are even less!

Flu and covid vacines don't prevent the illness. They just "maybe" soften their impact, but even that is not guaranteed as virus mutates fast. Don't throw them into the same bag as truly life changing polio or smallpox vaciness.

Millions of people died from covid. It's not the flu. Vaccines don't just "maybe" reduce the impact, they DO reduce the impact. It's extremely well documented. Even now, with the milder strains of covid that are common, it still reduces your chance of hospitalization and death by 57%.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/covid-effe...

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