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/
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
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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:
I agree. I have to say, though, just as a heads-up, my family had Covid 9/20, and then apparently got Omicron this month. Both times no big deal. I was super-surprised by the second bout.
Great research. Have you done much research on testing? I've heard that can be just as bad as the shot. Is that true?