I didn’t think I would make one of these posts, but I’ve been feeling for awhile that it might be a good idea to. Brace yourselves — it’s a long one, and it’s about “the media” and vaccines.
I am fully vaccinated. Have been since May. Signed up to get one the minute it was made available to nonessential workers. And despite a large swath of the vaccinated suffering the side effect of posting about it on social media, trust me when I say a lot more people than you think are vaccinated, even if we didn’t post about it initially.
After the first shot, my arm was a little numb for about 24 hours. I guess I’m one of the rare ones where the second shot actually got me worse than the first, because I had a pretty heavy fever the next day and was a bit nauseated. Then I was good. Haven’t had any problems since.
Switching gears a bit: It’s pretty well known that I abhor modern journalism, and part of that fact is because today’s younger and mainstream activist journalists may be the most scientifically and economically illiterate people relative to their education and income backgrounds. I know that they cannot be trusted to be fair, unbiased, or accurate. And I’m not just talking about outlets like The Young Turks or Vox. I’m talking about your New York Times, your Jennifer Rubins, your NPRs. Anyone who’s honest with themselves, does their own research, or isn’t dominated by their partisan ideology can see it.
And don’t forget the tech giants and CDC, both of which have ignored several studies and reliable recommendations from health experts. In partnership with news conglomerates, they have clearly failed with fact checking and suppressing or “adding context” to so-called “misinformation” these past 18 months. They did it with the initial onset of coronavirus, mask and mask mandate efficiency, the lab leak theory, herd immunity, and information regarding the most vulnerable. It’s no wonder people don’t trust them when it comes to the safety of vaccines.
And let’s not forget that almost one year ago, major left-wing leaders and figures — including our current president and vice president — were saying these vaccines couldn’t be trusted because they were being developed under the Trump administration. They were the first to politicize the vaccine and are reaping what they sowed. See this incredible Twitter thread that has documented the blatant hypocrisy:
.https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1423657704594288642
- libsoftiktok
This profile also documents some: https://twitter.com/DefiantLs
Still, despite me hoping more people will distrust these institutions that do not deserve this weird baseline level of trust they’re given, these institutions have been right about the safety of vaccines. They are still strawmanning many concerns, but the vaccines are not as dangerous as I’ve seen some people claim. Unreliable sources can be right about things too, you just have to verify the information for yourself.
The conspiracies that these vaccines are poisonous, contain intentionally harmful substances, are safe according to Big Pharma’s propaganda, or were developed with nefarious purposes are no more valid than the vast “Blue Anon” conspiracies that information gatekeepers have allowed to permeate because it jives with their personal biases, from Trump pee tapes to Florida fudging Covid-19 data (something these gatekeepers still believe or refuse to acknowledge was wrong).
So let me try to address your concerns directly, since these institutions and many of those who follow them would rather ridicule you or Cathy Newman everything you say.
“I’m not vulnerable/at risk.”
That doesn’t mean you can’t pass it on to others. Vaccines are about both protecting yourself and preventing transmission from you to others. Yes, others could vaccinate, wear masks, socially distance, etc. if they're concerned about their lives, but there are some people who have died who are not in the most at-risk population of seniors and severely unhealthy people.
“I already had Covid so I have the antibodies.”
Right now, the research shows that natural immunity is less effective than vaccination. There are some outliers like Massachusetts where the majority of new cases were among the vaccinated a few weeks ago, but the overwhelming majority of recent cases elsewhere like Kentucky or Israel (the most vaccinated country in the world right now) are among the unvaccinated.
“What about natural immunity from antibodies? I’d rather rely on my own body than some experimental vaccine.”
Vaccination does not mean you aren’t relying on your immune system. The point of a vaccine is to introduce the virus to you in a more “controlled” manner so your body develops immunity. It’s not like you’re injecting new, lab-made antibodies to fight it. Vaccination is relying on your own body.
“I’m worried that the vaccines don’t work/are harmful to me.”
The vaccines are proving to be as effective as has been claimed. And the amount of people who had severe side effects or died from vaccines relative to the amount of vaccinated is much smaller than the amount of people who died from Covid compared to the amount who caught it, whether you go with confirmed case counts or estimates.
This is an individual decision, and I believe that basically 99% of individuals should get vaccinated. But I will not tell every single person I know to get vaccinated because I don’t know your health conditions and there have been some cases of people who have died or had serious side effects. The likelihood that any of my friends would is minuscule, but it’s not something I’m going to have on my conscious (I believe the sin of commission is worse than omission). I also respect the protest against the authoritarian threats being made against those who choose not to.
That last point is another reason I’ve been conflicted about telling people to get vaccinated. I sympathize with the commitment to not give in to the ignorant, authoritarian bullying taking place. A progressive might say these people are overreacting, but everyday I read letters to the editor and op-eds from people who want to punish the unvaccinated or have millions “show their papers” by threat of force to be able to access public services they are entitled to.
I 100% understand why some may choose to not get vaccinated out of pure spite of this overreach. It may seem petty, but read the next paragraph — and a history book about the 20th century.
Consider one inconvenient truth for these people that Black people have the lowest rates of vaccination, and that’s not out of lack of access. They are understandably the most vaccine hesitant. If your worldview is that any disparate outcome for racial minorities is institutional racism, then by your own definition, vaccine mandates are institutionally and systemically racist policies, because what they’ll look like is a lot of Black people being denied entry into private businesses and public areas where a lot of white people are allowed to roam freely, because the Black people don't show their card. Sound familiar?
Still, I highly recommend you don’t let this decision be political or affected by a few horror stories. Right-wing people claim that left-wing people are giving into fear because of some horror stories, yet here you are not willing to get vaccinated because of a few horror stories?
I’m happy to see more people recognize that they should not give their implicit trust to these major institutions for information dissemination. That doesn’t mean you go the exact opposite way. "Hitler was bad, but don't go join Stalin just because he fought against him." You don’t have to just go with any random source that says things just because they are contrary to the mainstream. Go to primary sources. Ask for help if you don’t know how to read these kinds of studies or don’t know where to find them.
Consider this my long-winded way of saying to please consider getting the vaccine if you haven’t. If you’re worried because of a problem you have, check with a medical expert. Make sure they’re one who actually listens (a whole problem in that industry that we can’t get into here). Ask them what they base their decision on. Pray about it if you need to. Don’t let your decision to remain unvaccinated be influenced by bad sources and an irrational fear that mimics the irrational fear the ideologically opposing gatekeepers have stoked for the past year and a half.