Received the Vaccine today...

[7Bartman]

Further research on long term side effects or other risks.

I'm sure the first 10 million folks to build homes with asbestos were pretty pleased, too.

We know mRNA has a relatively short half-life and is not integrated into host DNA. Other than the lipid nanoparticle (which I honestly thought would have caused more problems), what are we concerned about? How long should we wait in the face of a pandemic that has killed over 500k Americans? If you want long-term safety (studies over 2 years in length) you can have it, but it would be at a serious risk to continue to let this virus spread unfettered.
Again, the mRNA vaccines are just part of the mRNA of the virus, as a mimic of what the virus would do in the body. You should then be equally/more concerned about a larger payload of corona virus (containing various mRNAs) and it's long-term safety. I think the risk/benefit is pretty clear here.

 

[z987k]

There have been tens of millions dosed with both mRNA vaccines at this point. What exactly are we waiting for? If your logic is sound you should be equally afraid of the mRNA of the Corona virus and it's long term sequelae (which are well documented). I don't understand the cognitive dissonance when it comes to this. We're getting herd immunity one way or another.

You can't have cognitive dissonance if you don't understand the material well enough for evidence to the contrary of your current view to mean anything to you.

 

[Dos Perros]

We know mRNA has a relatively short half-life and is not integrated into host DNA. Other than the lipid nanoparticle (which I honestly thought would have caused more problems), what are we concerned about? How long should we wait in the face of a pandemic that has killed over 500k Americans? If you want long-term safety (studies over 2 years in length) you can have it, but it would be at a serious risk to continue to let this virus spread unfettered.
Again, the mRNA vaccines are just part of the mRNA of the virus, as a mimic of what the virus would do in the body. You should then be equally/more concerned about a larger payload of corona virus (containing various mRNAs) and it's long-term safety. I think the risk/benefit is pretty clear here.

I’m not smart enough or all-knowing to be able to predict what to be concerned about. I also don’t think we (the collective we) have a full understanding of why everything that is happening happens. There is a lot we don’t know.

The risk you mention is the individual’s to take. Here soon everyone who wants a vaccine will have been offered one. There will be no reason for any additional government intervention in our lives w.r.t. COVID.

I get the trade off on long term effects of the virus itself. But you might be calculating the risk/benefit from a different perspective. Maybe you are old or obese or have diabetes or other issues. Maybe you’ve never had adverse reactions to medicine.

Are there any other common corona viruses that exhibit common, persistent, and concerning long term (> 1 year) side effects? I’m not aware of any but like I said I’m not omniscient.

 

[7Bartman]

I’m not smart enough or all-knowing to be able to predict what to be concerned about. I also don’t think we (the collective we) have a full understanding of why everything that is happening happens. There is a lot we don’t know.

While there are always unknowns, science has come a long way in the past few decades. It is utterly a miracle of science that we were able to genotype the virus, publish it's sequence and design a vaccine for it in record time. Before either mRNA vaccine was approved they both underwent very large randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. If you have issue with this not being enough data, then you shouldn't probably be taking any prescription medicines, let alone any supplements (where there is basically no data).

The risk you mention is the individual’s to take. Here soon everyone who wants a vaccine will have been offered one. There will be no reason for any additional government intervention in our lives w.r.t. COVID.

Agreed, I just try and further educate others of the risks/benefits. Not a fan of government intervention.

I get the trade off on long term effects of the virus itself. But you might be calculating the risk/benefit from a different perspective. Maybe you are old or obese or have diabetes or other issues. Maybe you’ve never had adverse reactions to medicine.

Yes, every individual should look at the risks/benefits of their situation.

Are there any other common corona viruses that exhibit common, persistent, and concerning long term (> 1 year) side effects? I’m not aware of any but like I said I’m not omniscient.

Aside from the current virus, not that we know of, but we also don't have any evidence of long-term side effects of mRNA vaccines (they were previously utilized for other viruses.
Look, I certainly get the hesitance, but many of the arguments I see aren't well supported or worse are part of group think. I tend to lean heavily to the right in terms of values, but I don't get the reluctance from the right in terms of getting vaccinated.

 

[540-Virginian]

Holy crap this thread is still going lol.

vaccine is pretty good, the evidence is as good and clear as any new drug when it is a new drug. No one knows the long term of either covid or these vaccines as we are just now living through it. There are risks with all options in life...

but heres something to consider, there are perfectly healthly young (in their 30s) people who are marathon and even triathlon participants (ie, super healthy and fit) who are waiting for lung transplants from bad Covid. I work for a hospital and my friend works in the Covid ward where he has one of those patients. Another hes heard about as they are communicating with othe care providers on best trwatment options as this is pretty extreme and rare for this type of case where person is healthy... We both thought it was just one type of body/person effected (obese, old etc), but it attacks some people at random pretty bad. Kids too: my wife works in Nicu and Picu and has had seen some bad cases in perfectly healthy kids, like strokes a month after having Covid. And they were healthy active fit kids.

Compare those numbers overall with the odds youll have an adverse effect from the vaccine; ill take the vaccine.

I geniunely believe this virus came out of the Wuhan lab (by accident) and WHO is in the CCPs back pocket and avoids calling them out because of it. but i also believe the pfizer vaccine will help more than harm. I get my second dose next week.

 

[Dos Perros]

While there are always unknowns, science has come a long way in the past few decades. It is utterly a miracle of science that we were able to genotype the virus, publish it's sequence and design a vaccine for it in record time. Before either mRNA vaccine was approved they both underwent very large randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. If you have issue with this not being enough data, then you shouldn't probably be taking any prescription medicines, let alone any supplements (where there is basically no data).

Agreed, I just try and further educate others of the risks/benefits. Not a fan of government intervention.

Yes, every individual should look at the risks/benefits of their situation.

Aside from the current virus, not that we know of, but we also don't have any evidence of long-term side effects of mRNA vaccines (they were previously utilized for other viruses.
Look, I certainly get the hesitance, but many of the arguments I see aren't well supported or worse aren't part of group think. I tend to lean heavily to the right in terms of values, but I don't get the reluctance from the right in terms of getting vaccinated.

The population of folks with hesitance is wide ranging, large, and incredibly diverse. That’s what is making it tough to ‘combat’ with messaging (source: NPR). Everyone has a different reason.

I’m not sure why we are surprised. The flu vaccine uptake has been similar (~50%).

 

[Mosby]

I got the first Pfizer shot today and will get the second shot in May. I can't continue to hunker down. I have places to go and things to do. I am hoping to hunt 4 to 5 states this year. I have a couple of scouting trips this summer, a graduation and I have to help my son move to D.C. I will be going all over the country, will be in multiple states and will likely visit with dozens of people. Then I will come home to a wife that had months of chemo last year and really can't afford to get sick. She has enough on her plate and that was the deciding factor for me. If it was just me, I would likely not get the vaccine at this point but it isn't and I need to play the % and possibly reduce the risk of bringing it home. Never gamble with more than you can afford to loose.

 

[adventure907]

Aside from the current virus, not that we know of, but we also don't have any evidence of long-term side effects of mRNA vaccines (they were previously utilized for other viruses.

Can you expand on the previous successful use?

 

[7Bartman]

Can you expand on the previous successful use?

There are no other cases of successful use. I wasn't pointing to efficacy data, but "long-term" safety data for this class of compounds. mRNA based vaccines were/are being developed for a number of other (e.g. zika) infectious etiologies before COVID came along, so from that standpoint we do have some longer term data (>1-2 years) in a smaller subset of individuals. Again, if anyone thinks longer-term safety data means 10 years or more, than they probably shouldn't ever take any drugs period. Then again, there are supplements with basically no data.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

people have all sorts or reasons why they dont want it and thats completely fine. It will just take longer for the virus to burn out. I looked at it this way, if i was asymptomatic and gave it to my mom or dad and they died from it i would feel pretty crappy. I couldnt come up with a good enough reason to no get the vaccine if it even gives me a 1% chance of not hurting my family on accident. Many people way smarter then i am claim the vaccines are 80-90% effective. If its true i am happy to take it. If there was something that would give you a 80-90% advanatge in harvesting a 70" moose i am sure everyone on here would do it, even if it ment that you could have a fever or the chills for a day. When it comes down to it covid has killed many more people then the vaccines have and more people have taken the vaccine then have tested positive for covid.

then again not once in history has a post on a forum ever changed anyones mind on something like this so 99% of this thread is pointless banter.

 

[LWC]

There are no other cases of successful use.

Covid has brought about so many FIRSTS. First time governments have closed all but "essential" businesses. First time government has closed in person learning. First time mass mail in voting. First time government has mandated mask wearing and basically cured the flu. First time mRNA vaccines have been used successfully. Lots of firsts this last year.

 

[txhunter581]

I’m not smart enough or all-knowing to be able to predict what to be concerned about. I also don’t think we (the collective we) have a full understanding of why everything that is happening happens. There is a lot we don’t know.

The risk you mention is the individual’s to take. Here soon everyone who wants a vaccine will have been offered one. There will be no reason for any additional government intervention in our lives w.r.t. COVID.

I get the trade off on long term effects of the virus itself. But you might be calculating the risk/benefit from a different perspective. Maybe you are old or obese or have diabetes or other issues. Maybe you’ve never had adverse reactions to medicine.

Are there any other common corona viruses that exhibit common, persistent, and concerning long term (> 1 year) side effects? I’m not aware of any but like I said I’m not omniscient.

Maybe not but this is NOT any normal virus. It was created in a Lab and many of us don’t have the “right stuff” immune wise to fight it off.

I know of multiple people personally with long term side effects from THIS virus.

 

[txhunter581]

I am sure this has been said before but if this thing killed 5%+ of our kids, instead of the over 65 crowd, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. I guess 5 year olds have more value that someone that only has 15-20 years to live.

 

[Drenalin]

I got my first dose of Pfizer today. I'm more or less on the "if this helps things get back to normal" train of thought, but I was and am hesitant about pretty much everything surrounding COVID.

We're getting herd immunity one way or another.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, this is a real question. What makes you sure we are going to get to herd immunity given that we don't know (1) how long antibodies last for those who have been infected, (2) whether or not people who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus to others, or (3) how long the vaccine itself will provide protection? Doesn't herd immunity require that we be below a certain threshold of susceptible hosts for the virus? My understanding at this point is we're still assuming everyone is susceptible.

If I'm off base, please let me know. My butt is firmly on the fence here, but my legs are dangling on the side of vaccination. I can certainly understand people's reluctance given the lack of reliable information widely available and the continued weaponization of this virus by folks on both sides of the issue.

 

[Swampcruiser]

Happily vaccinated here too

 

[Riplip]

2nd dose of Pfizer on Monday, a little tired the next day but no other side effects so far. Glad to be fully vacc'd, for friends and family.

 

[ODB]

I am sure this has been said before but if this thing killed 5%+ of our kids, instead of the over 65 crowd, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. I guess 5 year olds have more value that someone that only has 15-20 years to live.

An interesting idea I shared with my wife the other day, that our preferred and revering youth over the aged is tainting our perceptions of this - perhaps.

it reminds me of when I was in college (as an adult) doing a group project with kids who were in their 20s. When it came time to offer our suggestions, a student looked at me and said he thought i should go first. The girls in the group reacted visibly offended a guy got first go. But it wasn’t my sex that the other student was noticing, it was my age. He was Vietnamese and commented along the lines that it was respectful for young people to listen to older people first before offering their own opinions.

Maybe says something about our constant obsession about youth in this country

 

[fwafwow]

I got my first dose of Pfizer today.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, this is a real question. What makes you sure we are going to get to herd immunity given that we don't know (1) how long antibodies last for those who have been infected, (2) whether or not people who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus to others, or (3) how long the vaccine itself will provide protection? Doesn't herd immunity require that we be below a certain threshold of susceptible hosts for the virus? My understanding at this point is we're still assuming everyone is susceptible.

If I'm off base, please let me know. My butt is firmly on the fence here, but my legs are dangling on the side of vaccination. [snip]

I think you are right that we don't know the answers to your three questions. The initial "news stories" that said (1) "antibodies only last three months!" (2) you can still spread the virus after the vaccination and (3) the vaccine won't protect you forever! I think subsequent sources have given more positive thoughts, at least by comparison to SARS and other vaccines. FWIW, the answer to #1 is more than 3 months, at least anecdotally. I've had antibodies for nine months.

 

[Drenalin]

I think you are right that we don't know the answers to your three questions. The initial "news stories" that said (1) "antibodies only last three months!" (2) you can still spread the virus after the vaccination and (3) the vaccine won't protect you forever! I think subsequent sources have given more positive thoughts, at least by comparison to SARS and other vaccines. FWIW, the answer to #1 is more than 3 months, at least anecdotally. I've had antibodies for nine months.

At least three friends who had it at the same time as me were still rocking antibodies 10 months later.

 

[prm]

For now, the only thing we know about the vaccine with reasonable certainty is that it minimizes the impact of the virus on a vaccinated individual. They still are not certain whether it prevents, or even minimizes, your ability to spread the virus. There are ongoing studies and they seem to lean towards it helping, but that's not definitive. Just yesterday the CDC and FDA recommended a pause in the use of the J&J vaccine until they can look further into the cases of vaccinated individuals dying of blood clots. Just in: they chose not to vote today.
"The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, said Wednesday it doesn’t have enough information yet about the risk of these unusual side effects to determine whether the vaccine should be continued, discontinued or recommended only for certain groups of the population.

The ACIP expects to meet again in another week or two to revisit the issue. U.S. health officials on Tuesday recommended that use of the J&J vaccine be paused while they investigate."

They simply do not yet know the possible impacts of either type of vaccine. I am in no way anti vaccine, but this whole thing just doesn't pass the sniff test. For now I'm leaning on being as healthy as possible including reduced body fat, quality foods, and getting necessary vitamins. I'll let impacts get studied longer.