I'm not so sure why some folks are so bent out of shape about this vaccine--on both sides. I got it for ME not anyone else--well, my family. If you don't want it I'm fine with that AND I get it as it is frankly untested. I usually get the flu shot every year also for ME, not others. I get it because if I'm spending a lot of money on hunting trips I don't want to lay in a bed the whole time.
My question has always been (admittedly I'm not too bright and maybe
@Henro can explain it) isn't the vaccine meant to protect the person that GETS it. Why do I care if someone else doesn't want it--for whatever reason. Me wearing MY seatbelt will not help YOU in an accident--or maybe I am wrong and it will.
My take on the vaccination versus no-vaccination debate it’s pretty much like this:
If one gets vaccinated, what threat does he offer to those vaccinated, or those who choose not to get vaccinated?
If one chooses not to get vaccinated, what threat does he offer to others, vaccinated or not?
I don’t see a threat to others if one gets vaccinated. Perhaps there is a threat to himself since it can be argued there is always a possibility of a negative affect of a new vaccine appearing at some point in the future.
With the Delta variant, apparently even though only a small percentage of the vaccinated get a breakthrough infection, it is now possible for this reportedly small percentage to pass the virus on to others. This is apparently a change that appeared with the Delta variant.
The unvaccinated, if they become infected with the virus, apparently are 100% able to pass it on to others.
It is reported that as far as hospitalizations and intensive care bed occupation, that the unvaccinated occupy well over 90% of the beds in both cases, compared to the vaccinated. Chances are if the unvaccinated had been vaccinated there would be many less of these individuals in the hospital.
The issue with filling nearly all the beds in the hospital really
affects both healthy unvaccinated and vaccinated people, in the event they have some unrelated health emergency. Worst case there will be no bed or treatment available at the hospital when they arrive. And even if they are admitted, the hospital staff is likely stretched thin and they may not get the level of care they would have gotten if the hospital was less busy.
So my conclusion at this point in time is that getting vaccinated offers almost no immediate threat to anybody, but avoiding the vaccination and ending up in the hospital offers a threat to almost everybody.
If the level of COVID hospitalizations was at the level of annual flu hospitalizations, this would not be an issue. But that is not the case, unfortunately.