Why I am Not Vaccinated

It is all about risk vs. reward

I am not vaccinated. I think for me the risks from the vaccine are greater than the potential benefits. I will explain why below. 

I hope this explanation will help convince some people that there are indeed rational grounds for not wanting to take the current covid vaccines, and to thereby make them less judgemental about the decisions that individuals make.

I already had covid.  For me the experience was quite mild.  One night of feeling feverish.  A few days of feeling draggy.  That’s it.  Different from but overall less severe than what a normal cold is like for me.

There is a huge amount of very solid evidence indicating that this prior infection provides a very strong level of protection to me against future infections, and even more so against potential severe outcomes.  Here is a partial list:

https://brownstone.org/articles/79-research-studies-affirm-naturally-acquired-immunity-to-covid-19-documented-linked-and-quoted/

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For example, this recent study compares infections over time for vaccinated, previously infected, and those that are both.  Result: previous infection is many times more protective than vax, lasts longer, and there is minimal to no additional benefit from vaccination for those previously infected.  

Graph credit: https://twitter.com/E_got_tweets

Study here:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.04.21267114v1.full.pdf

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This study shows that even if previously infected people do get reinfected, the chance of a severe outcome is greatly reduced.  Overall degree of protection about 99%.

Charles Brewer @charlesbrew

We already know that those previously infected are 85% or more protected from re-infection. But what if they do get reinfected, will it be less severe? YES says this study in NEJM. 100% protection from death 100% from critical 88% from severe nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

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Back to my personal situation - there are some other factors that may also affect my risk/reward profile.  

I am a pretty fit person, especially cardiovascularly.  This greatly minimizes the risks I face from covid, but may actually increase the risks I face from the vaccines.  

The sudden increased incidence of athletes mysteriously collapsing and in some cases dying from cardiovascular events is concerning to me.  

is it vaccines or is it covid causing athletes to collapse on the field?

The fact that I have had covid previously also increases the risk that I face from the vaccines.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC8313055/

The risks from the vaccines are not yet well understood, but they appear to be far greater than the risks from other frequently administered vaccines.  Adverse events reports are literally off the charts:

https://openvaers.com/covid-data

The overall effect on mortality from the vaccines is still not known.  The actual trials done prior to the approval of the vaccines actually show more deaths among the vaccine recipients than among the control group.  

Charles Brewer @charlesbrew

Something is most most definitely not right with the vaccines. Pfizer trial data now showing 21 deaths in vax group, vs. 17 in placebo. An INCREASE in all-cause mortality.

alexberenson.substack.comMore people died in the key clinical trial for Pfizer’s Covid vaccine than the company publicly reportedPfizer told the world 15 people who received the vaccine in its trial had died as of mid-March. Turns out the real number then was 21, compared to only 17 deaths in people who hadn’t been vaccinated.

Since the vaccines have been in common use for a year now, we would expect to see some clear indication of overall mortality decrease due to their use.  But we do not see that anywhere.

In fact, there are some very worrisome increases in overall mortality rates in highly vaccinated places.  We don’t know that this is due to the vaccines, but it is worrisome.  For example, Germany:

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/all-cause-mortality-in-germany-is/

Summary

In summary, I think there is a lot of uncertainty about the risks from the vaccines.  More than a lot.  A HUGE amount.

And I am highly confident that given my individual circumstances the risks I face from covid itself are very low.  My first infection was very mild. The chances of any subsequent infection being worse are very small.

So, I am not vaccinated and I don’t want to be vaccinated.  I prefer to take my chances with the devil that I know - covid - and not the devil that I don’t know - vaccine risks.

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PS - Please note the question of the vaccine risk is completely a function of the specific vaccines that are available to me today.  In the future there may be other covid vaccines that are much safer that I might want to take.

PPS - I know that my reasoning here is completely counter to the advice of the CDC and other health authorities. IMHO they have intentionally twisted their advice to suit an agenda and have no credibility.  Exhibit A:

Charles Brewer @charlesbrew

Look at the disgracefully dishonest tweet the CDC Director offers about this study. In addition to what I explained before, this study obviously says nothing at all about the odds of getting severe disease. Her tweet needs to be removed or corrected.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH @CDCDirector

Vaccination offers higher protection against severe disease than prior #COVID19 infection. Those unvaccinated & had a recent infection were 5X more likely to have COVID-19 than those recently fully vaccinated & w/o prior infection. Get vaccinated. https://t.co/oG4wswCjzQ @CDCMMWR https://t.co/vSkxmx6pyM