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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3110 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 16, 2022

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Does it make sense for a young person to get the latest covid vaccine?

No. It’s a trivial risk for you and the vaccine doesn’t even work that well these days.

This is the bivalent vaccine that is supposed to offer better protection from Omicron. It doesn't work that well?

None of the past vaccines have worked as well as they've been advertised. Personally I would expect this to be largely in the same mold.

Meaning what? The original vaccine was reported to reduce severe illness and death by something like 97%. Was that inaccurate? I understand that the protection against infection dropped down to around 35% after a few months instead of 80% or whatever it was initially.

The original Wuhan strain and its deadlier Delta variant caused far more severe illness and death than Omicron, except in geriatric males who are liable to die of flu or a bad cold anyway.

Here’s my anecdote:

My choice not to get any of the vaccines was largely caused by the government-driven high social cost of not taking them. As the kids say, “seems a little sus.” As time went on and the myocarditis risk from the vaccines became both more prominently apparent and highly censored, I felt validated.

My unvaxxed 70-year-old parents and I caught it in November, either Wuhan or Delta wave. None of us have Long Covid, though my dad developed a-fib and I lost my nasal sense for three months. We’re both better now.

My sisters (40-ish, my age) both had the vaccines, and both have had scary heart symptoms they sought treatment for, and they both later caught Omicron anyway, having avoided Wuhan and Delta through distancing.

For me, Omicron was a light cold in June, and I actually felt spry and energized after it ran its course in two days. I treated it with vitamin D + direct sunshine, and zinc + tonic water at mealtimes.

What did they end up doing for that treatment? I’ve been struggling with some arrhythmia, which does not synergize well with anxiety.

I’ll see about asking. I wasn’t privy to what medications those treatments were. My dad’s A-Fib needed “heart ablation” surgery.

The chance of severe illness and death for a young person is very small. So it's like buying insurance against a being struck by lightning while being chased by a shark. Sure, it may be a reputable company (some may doubt that but let's assume they are) and they'll pay out if that happens in 97% of cases, but should you really bother?

The risk of severe illness doesn't rise with age nearly as quickly as the risk of death.

So it's like buying insurance against a being struck by lightning while being chased by a shark.

I can't be bothered to do the math, but the risk is many orders of magnitude greater than that.

To further your analogy, why are they trying so hard to sell me lightning shark insurance?

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