Coronavirus prep
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TX_Bluebonnet wrote: »I don't recall seeing this discussed anywhere, but I wonder how many people aren't getting vaccinated because they're afraid of getting shots, as in the needle prick hurting. I'm embarrassed to say I avoided tetanus and flu shots for years because I'm a baby when it comes to pain. And many painful blood draws for lab work over the years didn't help the matter. But I got up the nerve for my first Covid shot and was surprised when I didn't even feel the needle go in. I actually wondered if maybe it didn't, but later on I saw a spot of blood on the bandage and my arm muscle was sore. I barely felt the 2nd and 3rd doses, and same with a recent flu shot. So then I thought I should get my long-postponed shingles shots, and well, that one hurt. Not looking forward to the 2nd shingles shot. In any case, I think a fear of shots could be a factor for some people.
I'm quite needle phobic but unless it's an extreme phobia, most of us know we have to buckle down and just do it in spite of the fear. For me pain isn't the issue, it's the idea of having something injected into me... I'm much better with blood draws than with shots. I know people who dose themselves with Ativan before getting needles, whatever it takes. I haven't heard anyone claim fear of needles as their reason for not getting vaccinated, nor was my own fear ever a deterrent for me.7 -
Everyone I personally know who's unvaxxed either thinks the disease is no big deal (these tend to be younger folks who are at that invulnerable-feeling age), is an anti-vaxxer generally even before Covid, or has some kind of belief that this specific vaccine is too risky.
The latter range from people who are (IMO) over-worried about things that are statistically rare, like blood clots or Guillain-Barré Syndrome, or who think the government was too quick in approving the vaccines (inadequate trials) so are waiting; to people who have much deeper concerns about injectable microchips and other such conspiracies. The most extreme cases are among those who have at least some QAnon beliefs of other types.
Underscoring: I'm only talking here about people I actually personally know in real life, whom I know to be unvaccinated. I'm not saying this is any kind of fair statistical sample of the population.
I only know a few people who are needle averse, and they're vaccinated (unless skipping it for one of the reasons I mentioned above).5 -
I haven’t heard anyone object to legitimate medical reasons not to get vaccinated. Those might include a past history of anaphylaxis in response to the ingredients used to manufacture the vaccine, or certain autoimmune conditions, or possibly a history of autoimmune related blood clots. Those people who wish they could be vaccinated but are unable to be are one of the reasons other people desperately need to get vaccinated to reduce their risk.7
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Whatever reason you have for not getting vaxxed, unvaxxed people are spreading covid at alarming rates. Seriously ill covid patients, requiring hospitalization, are dying. Those of you that refuse to get vaccinated should read about what these patients go through. It's very unpleasant. Do you want to take the risk, for yourself or exposing loved ones or friends? Most clear-thinking people wouldn't.
There are a lot of side effects from having covid. They don't really know what may show up in the future.
I understand the reluctance. My husband got blood clots in his left knee area in late May. It wasn't determined why. (At least we weren't given the reason). No family history. He was genetically tested for the gene. Negative. We still got the 3rd shot right before Thanksgiving. His hematologist recommended taking it, and my husband's decision was based on not wanting to get covid.
I've been on MFP for almost 10 years now. Responding to an earlier comment towards my post yesterday, that most regular posters on this thread are vaccinated. That's great. I was a regular poster myself and have had all 3 shots. My concern is for the ones that are refusing the vaccination. In my experience, almost every question or issue on this site comes up frequently. I don't post much anymore, but I feel very strongly about vaccinations. This is one issue that may save lives. It's worth repeating.8 -
As for the needle phobic topic, I am chiming in as a person that the doctor actually had to use smelling salts and close his exam room to the next patient until after I came to after he gave me a TB test. I do this regularly. Despite this, I have gotten all three of my COVID vaccinations. In an analysis of my vaccinations, the first two were given by a much better trained individual. Barely felt the shot. For the third, I actually felt a "pop" sensation as he was giving me the shot. Not pleasant and my arm hurt comparatively more after this shot than the first two. Reaction to vaccine is a little unclear as a bug was going through the home at the time. (I did not actively have at the time of my vaccine, though my husband did. When I questioned him, his response was "I'm going to feel sick anyhow....." I told him I was putting that on his grave.)
So, on different note. I now have that bug, thanks to my husband. Not COVID based on the 4 Binax and 1 PCR test taken between the family members that have been dealing with this cold. I honestly had forgotten what it is like to be sick. I think it is likely 5 years since I have been this sick, or maybe more.
Lastly, for an added piece of interest. For my husband, at a week into the bug (6 days after vaccination), he developed an eye infection. His opthomologist gave him drops via over the phone, which he used diligently. Yesterday, he saw his glaucoma specialist who stated that eye doctors have been seeing an uptick is eye infections (or the like - I was not there for the convo) specifically after the booster shots and they are trying to figure out the "why". I did a search on this and did find a connection to the Pfizer vaccines, which is the vaccination we had. All very interesting.6 -
The only genuine reason not to get vaccinated is a medical contraindication - and I cant see why anyone would be reluctant to share that.
[edited by MFP staff]2 -
paperpudding wrote: »The only genuine reason not to get vaccinated is a medical contraindication - and I cant see why anyone would be reluctant to share that.
I agree with this, and with rheddmobile's post just above that no one here judges those who cannot be vaxxed for medical reasons.
Also, as the person who noted that the regular posters here are all vaxxed, so don't need to be told to get vaxxed -- which I contend is true -- I also agree with 33gail33's post that at this point no one (the occasional poster, lurkers) who can medically be vaxxed and yet has chosen not to be vaxxed (and certainly in the US anyone not vaxxed is choosing that), is not going to be convinced by a post on a forum. Thus, it does feel a bit like a lecture to people to whom it does not apply (most of us here who got all our covid shots ASAP) -- and yes, I do tend to read lectures directed to no one in particular as directed to everyone in the thread, which is perhaps one of those interpretative quirks that Ann talks about, and my personal issue, but I will still be honest about my reaction.
Beyond that, there's really no way to have a debate about the vax here without it getting political or otherwise contentious.5 -
paperpudding wrote: »The only genuine reason not to get vaccinated is a medical contraindication - and I cant see why anyone would be reluctant to share that.
[edited by MFP staff]
^ this is the first time I have seen that a post was edited by MFP.
I am also seeing that the most recent post on this thread by @cwolfman13 comes up "Reply Not Found. The page you were looking for could not be found."
Is MFP monitoring content more than I have previously noticed?0 -
My husband has had compressed air shots in the Army and says they hurt like hell. It’s not the needle that hurts but the liquid being forced under your skin. They do it because it’s avoiding dirty needles, not because it doesn’t hurt.Fear of injections can be an issue for some but its probably a relatively small number. There might be good news coming. Going into test in Southampton UK is a vaccine which can be freeze dried and given by way of compressed air. A small, hand held unit is held to the arm and a jet of air takes the dose through the skin, no pin prick, I believe there is nothing to feel.
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paperpudding wrote: »The only genuine reason not to get vaccinated is a medical contraindication - and I cant see why anyone would be reluctant to share that.
I agree with this, and with rheddmobile's post just above that no one here judges those who cannot be vaxxed for medical reasons.
Also, as the person who noted that the regular posters here are all vaxxed, so don't need to be told to get vaxxed -- which I contend is true -- I also agree with 33gail33's post that at this point no one (the occasional poster, lurkers) who can medically be vaxxed and yet has chosen not to be vaxxed (and certainly in the US anyone not vaxxed is choosing that), is not going to be convinced by a post on a forum. Thus, it does feel a bit like a lecture to people to whom it does not apply (most of us here who got all our covid shots ASAP) -- and yes, I do tend to read lectures directed to no one in particular as directed to everyone in the thread, which is perhaps one of those interpretative quirks that Ann talks about, and my personal issue, but I will still be honest about my reaction.
Beyond that, there's really no way to have a debate about the vax here without it getting political or otherwise contentious.
I guess this is directed at me. It is not my intention to lecture anyone. Or imply that vaxxed people are being targeted in my comments. They aren't. MOST got vaccinated? So, I'm not entitled to post because it doesn't apply to vaccinated persons? Clearly, there are individuals that are reading this thread that are NOT vaccinated. I certainly did not make this a political issue, way above my pay grade. You don't need to be political to do the right thing. Many people are choosing to NOT be vaccinated in the US.3 -
paperpudding wrote: »The only genuine reason not to get vaccinated is a medical contraindication - and I cant see why anyone would be reluctant to share that.
[edited by MFP staff]
^ this is the first time I have seen that a post was edited by MFP.
I am also seeing that the most recent post on this thread by @cwolfman13 comes up "Reply Not Found. The page you were looking for could not be found."
Is MFP monitoring content more than I have previously noticed?
Typically it means someone was offended and flagged something.3 -
paperpudding wrote: »The only genuine reason not to get vaccinated is a medical contraindication - and I cant see why anyone would be reluctant to share that.
[edited by MFP staff]
I'd certainly accept religious reasons as well, although I don't know which (if any) faiths prohibit vaccination. I do know that there are some with strong beliefs surrounding permissible medical treatments.1 -
I cant remember what I wrote in my post that was edited out, don't think it was anything offensive - it isnt the first time MFP have edited posts though - not mine but I have seen it on other posts from time to time
Here in Australia we do not have religious objections accepted as a valid reason not to get vaccinated - and I am not aware of any religions which ban it anyway
The only valid exemption is medical contraindications - that is not my opinion, it is the stance of the Australian authorities - goes for other vaccines too, like childhood vaccines required for child care etc
It is a stance I agree with - and here in Australia too, everyone over 12 years of age, with the possible exception of some indiginous people in remote areas, (who live traditional lifestyles and are unlikely to have internet access or be posting on forums) has had ample opportunity to get vaccinated.
Anyone not doing so without a medical reason is choosing that (or their parents are) - and of course, putting others as well as themselves, at additional risk by that choice.6 -
Seventh Day Adventists don't allow medical care, IIRC. Locally, I have heard that the Amish are very unwilling to seek medical treatment and have not been widely vaccinated. I don't know whether they have had serious Covid issues or not. Very few are obese, which makes a difference in the likelihood of serious illness.4
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As far as I know, we do not have Amish communities in Australia so I am unaware of their ideology on this.
As well as not being obese, they are probably at less risk, and are less risk to others, by virtue of living in tightly closed communities?
There is a seventh day adventist church in my town and we have certainly vaccinated, and given other medical treatments, to members of the church, including the leader ( pastor, minister, ?? Not sure which term they use)3 -
rheddmobile wrote: »So there was a large party in Norway where Omicron spread among exclusively vaccinated people with no trouble. It does seem to completely ignore the vaccine as far as infection is concerned. So far no one from the party is very ill, but since they are all younger healthy people that doesn’t tell us much about how serious the infections are yet, since statistically they would probably be fine, even unvaxxed, with previous variants.
Remember that bear week celebration in Massachusetts over the summer where so many vaxxed people got Delta and everyone said that meant vaxxed people weren't protected? It turned out that while it's not 100%, the vaccines are preventing many infections. And no one knows why that super spreader happened.
Yep, I remember that I saw that event as an anomoly and made the point that media should stop focusing so much on that and using it as an example to spread the message that vaccinated people are more likely to get severe illness than unvaccinated people (statistically true in that case). It's important not to make conclusions based on exceptions alone.2 -
paperpudding wrote: »As far as I know, we do not have Amish communities in Australia so I am unaware of their ideology on this.
As well as not being obese, they are probably at less risk, and are less risk to others, by virtue of living in tightly closed communities?
There is a seventh day adventist church in my town and we have certainly vaccinated, and given other medical treatments, to members of the church, including the leader ( pastor, minister, ?? Not sure which term they use)
I have family that are Seventh Day Adventists (grandparents and uncle/aunt), and they all got vaccinated and have never had religious objections to getting medical care.6 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »Seventh Day Adventists don't allow medical care, IIRC. Locally, I have heard that the Amish are very unwilling to seek medical treatment and have not been widely vaccinated. I don't know whether they have had serious Covid issues or not. Very few are obese, which makes a difference in the likelihood of serious illness.
I think I've heard that it's been an issue in the Mennonite communities, possibly Hutterite as well.2 -
Politifact looked at which US religions ban vaccination in some official way, and there aren't many religions that do that across the board. Details here:
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/06/anthony-fauci/few-religions-ban-vaccination-counts-little-religi/
They say, and this is my understanding also from reading CDC and related info on exemptions, that your official religion need not ban vaccination in order to claim religious exemption. It's about personal beliefs. For example, in some other cases, committed vegans have been allowed to claim exemption from employment-related vaccination requirements when the specific vaccines included animal-sourced products - no formal religion at all involved. (That was a pre-Covid case example.) Sincere personal belief seems to have been the standard, at least in past employment-related legal cases.
(I don't have a link substantiating that part.)2 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »Seventh Day Adventists don't allow medical care, IIRC. Locally, I have heard that the Amish are very unwilling to seek medical treatment and have not been widely vaccinated. I don't know whether they have had serious Covid issues or not. Very few are obese, which makes a difference in the likelihood of serious illness.
As far as I know the Seventh Day Adventists don’t allow blood transfusions (they take this from the commandment to ‘abstain from blood’) but are fine with other medical care.
Some religious people object on the grounds that the vaccines were tested using cell lines from aborted tissue, but so were many other drugs, so unless the person is consistent in refusing all those drugs (which include Tylenol) the objection is likely to be denied.3 -
rheddmobile wrote: »spiriteagle99 wrote: »Seventh Day Adventists don't allow medical care, IIRC. Locally, I have heard that the Amish are very unwilling to seek medical treatment and have not been widely vaccinated. I don't know whether they have had serious Covid issues or not. Very few are obese, which makes a difference in the likelihood of serious illness.
As far as I know the Seventh Day Adventists don’t allow blood transfusions (they take this from the commandment to ‘abstain from blood’) but are fine with other medical care.
Some religious people object on the grounds that the vaccines were tested using cell lines from aborted tissue, but so were many other drugs, so unless the person is consistent in refusing all those drugs (which include Tylenol) the objection is likely to be denied.
I think you mean Jehovahs witnesses.
Jehovah witnesses don't allow blood transfusions but do not object to medical treatment in general.
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paperpudding wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »spiriteagle99 wrote: »Seventh Day Adventists don't allow medical care, IIRC. Locally, I have heard that the Amish are very unwilling to seek medical treatment and have not been widely vaccinated. I don't know whether they have had serious Covid issues or not. Very few are obese, which makes a difference in the likelihood of serious illness.
As far as I know the Seventh Day Adventists don’t allow blood transfusions (they take this from the commandment to ‘abstain from blood’) but are fine with other medical care.
Some religious people object on the grounds that the vaccines were tested using cell lines from aborted tissue, but so were many other drugs, so unless the person is consistent in refusing all those drugs (which include Tylenol) the objection is likely to be denied.
I think you mean Jehovahs witnesses.
Jehovah witnesses don't allow blood transfusions but do not object to medical treatment in general.
You’re correct, my bad!
I looked it up and according to the internet Seventh day adventists have no religious prohibitions against medical treatment.1 -
I certainly don't want anyone to get Covid but I do believe if you are not vaccinated it is just a matter of time until you get the virus. I am vaccinated and got the virus. Very mild and I had NO idea I had it so I could have spread it to others, which i feel badly about. I believe I got it from someone who was vaccinated. Personally i think it is awful not to get vaccinated as this continues to spread and kill.8
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I'm liking this cocoon thing you speak of.
Yeh, I've known both vaccinated and unvaccinated that have both gotten Covid. And their symptoms still vary so much; it's so hard to make sense of it all. But my good sense still is telling me to do as much as I can to protect myself and others. Even if it means I get stared at being one of the very few masked shoppers anymore.
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I'm liking this cocoon thing you speak of.
Yeh, I've known both vaccinated and unvaccinated that have both gotten Covid. And their symptoms still vary so much; it's so hard to make sense of it all. But my good sense still is telling me to do as much as I can to protect myself and others. Even if it means I get stared at being one of the very few masked shoppers anymore.
Luckily masks are still mandated here. In fact, Canada seems to be leaning toward recommending medical grade masks, even N95s, in the general population.
At my workplace the latest direction is either a 3-layer cloth mask, mask with filter, or medical grade. They do supply the blue disposable medical masks but most of us choose to wear our own cloth masks.3 -
In my little state of Tasmania, we have reached 90% fully vaccinated rate for 12+, borders were fully opened on 15 December (with some stipulations regarding vaccinations, pcr tests plus isolation if travelling from hotspots as well international arrivals). Since then we have seven cases (not a lot, but a lot for a state that has had relatively few cases in the past year or so), three are omicron, the rest still being determined.
Mask mandate now in place to commence 12.01am Tueday for indoor settings plus public transport, taxis and rideshare. It is was good to see though over the weekend before the mask mandate commences that a few people were already wearing masks while out shopping or at hospitality venues.
Booster vaccinations opened up about a month ago for those at the six months (now five months) out from being fully vaccinated.
Since covid first hit our state we have had 245 cases, of those 13 died, a lot of the those who passed were associated with the Ruby Princess cruise ship (approx 700 cases, 28 deaths).
I work at an airport, in the main office so not out and about in the terminal all that often, I chose to be fully vaccinated and have had my booster shot. With Christmas next week, it is planned to be a very busy week at the airport, lots of extra flights since the borders opened and school holidays/holiday season. We are expecting a lot of interstate arrivals from NSW and VIC where new cases numbers are continuing to rise. Good time to be fully vaccinated / boostered I think.10 -
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All of a sudden, the rapid tests are in short supply. I'm glad I got some a few weeks ago, because most pharmacies are out of them now. Hopefully, they get more before Christmas.
Half my husband's family is not coming to my house because they refuse to take the rapid tests that we purchased. They "don't believe in testing mandates". Okay, stay home then.17 -
I hadn't - thanks! Sent it on to a former coworker who said:"This is a stupid conversation and I'm not going to continue it" is how I want to end at least half of my work convos.3 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »All of a sudden, the rapid tests are in short supply. I'm glad I got some a few weeks ago, because most pharmacies are out of them now. Hopefully, they get more before Christmas.
Half my husband's family is not coming to my house because they refuse to take the rapid tests that we purchased. They "don't believe in testing mandates". Okay, stay home then.
I've found myself reflecting on this post over the past day. It's hard to understand family members -- family! -- unwilling to keep each other safe during a pandemic. Taking a rapid test someone else went through the effort and expense to procure is a pretty minimal level of effort. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around it. My knee jerk response (which is a jerk response) is why would anyone want to be around people this uncaring on any holiday anyway? Better not to have to feed/entertain people this dismissive (or perhaps unmoored).
You seem to have a really good disposition about it, @SuzySunshine99. I hope your holiday celebration is nice.11
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