I have really avoided wading into this issue, but I'll address this with my own personal take. You can take it for what it's worth, and it only reflects my PERSONAL opinion.

No, I do NOT regret getting the shot. The data shows that the shot protects against Covid fairly well, and I have some factors that put me at higher risk. In the early stages of Covid, the chances of severe illness and hospitalization was not negligible, and I have had CLOSE friends who have actually died from Covid. We can go round and round about the efficacy of the vaccine, how long it lasts, etc. but that's not what your question was about. In regards to side effects: In my opinion, they are vastly overstated by the people on this forum. There have been at least several hundred million doses administered by now, and you are using confirmation bias of any negative report to completely attribute them completely to the vaccine. I do NOT doubt that there are ill-effects or that some people may have even died because of it, but it's a matter of playing the percentages. My chances of getting Covid and having severe adverse effects are MUCH higher than adverse effects from the vaccine. Any vaccine can have potential side effects, but for some reason, the Covid issue went into the political realm and people threw away rational thinking and made it personal. No one would question getting a tetanus shot, or a MMR vaccine, but Covid? People are losing their damn minds and it's ridiculous.

You know how much time I spend worrying about the Covid shot side effects? Let's say that writing this post was associated with more anxiety than that. If I croak or get HIV, you can laugh and say "I told you so," but by then I'll be dead and it'll be a moot point.

FWIW: I got Covid back in June (been quite a while since the last vaccine) and it was pretty bad but not terrible. I still got a booster a month ago along with my flu shot. Why? Because I'd prefer not to go through 5 days of being sick and 3 weeks of being weak if I can avoid it. I did not get the shot to oppress you or anyone else, or because I want to show my solidarity with Fauci.

I'll gladly answer in public - I don't think it's something important for me to hide. Like I mentioned in my previous post, side effects are something you either display fairly quickly, or you don't. The percentage of people who do get side effects - IN MY OPINION (based on some research) - is relatively minor and most are not life-threatening (which is not to say that it couldn't be in a very few instances). Since I didn't have any side effects (other than a sore shoulder, same as the flu shot), I haven't thought about needing something to remove the side effects.

One caveat to my personal analysis: IF they do find long-term issues in a non-trivial sized population and I happen to come down with it, then obviously my opinion will change.

In the meantime, I made my decision as I would for any other medical procedure. Should I get a tetanus shot, LASIK, knee replacement, etc.? All medical procedures have risks and potential side effects. Each individual has to weigh their risk tolerance to determine if they should go through with it. The key input along with your personal risk tolerance is how much REAL risk there is from said procedure. In the case of the Covid vaccine, the risk presented varies wildly from one person to the next apparently and I think that's what all this arguing is about. We apparently have a significant difference in perceived risk and time will tell what the actual risk is/was.

EXACTLY!!!

That is a fair assessment. It's everyone's PERSONAL choice to do what they feel is in the best interest of their own lives with the information given to them.

I know unvaccinated people who got covid, it was a nothingburger.
I know unvaccinated people who got covid, they passed away.
I know vaccinated people who got covid, it was a nothingburger
I know vaccinated people who got covid, they passed away.

ALL of them made choices in their lives. That is the great part of being an American... the freedom to choose.

Now if you want to talk about those that manipulated, lied, and forced others to get the shot. That is a storm for another day.

How do you train your body to develop a natural immunity against various pathogens? Is there a regimen I could follow to stave off tetanus or rabies?

I agree that there were some very bad actors in the vaccine drama, no doubt. Now in regards to this statement:


Anecdotal evidence is not data. The whole point of vaccines are that they REDUCE the likelihood of getting sick from a certain virus. They range from super effective (near total immunity) to "meh" (flu shot on bad years). You certainly had vaccinated people die of Covid, but there clearly were FEWER who died than those vaccinated.

But like you said: It should be a personal choice. I never intimated that anything should be coerced.

You're being disingenuous, as the anti-vaccine side is just as bad. You may not see it, but it's there all the same.

Vaccines are one of the most effective methods humanity has found to extend life expectancy and avoid debilitating diseases. To be anti-vax *is* a fringe opinion, whether you like it or not. We can certainly argue over the danger presented by an inadequately-tested vaccine like Covid, but one of the reasons the label if "fringe" applies is because the anti-vax side seems to completely ignore the scientific data in favor of it and relies on "experts" who are, well, looney-tunes. I won't go any further than that because I won't change anyone's opinion apparently.

Now in regard to Ivermectin: I fail to see how an anti-parasitic can function as an antiviral medication. A drug designed to kill tiny living organisms that are millions of times larger than a virus particle just beggars belief. I won't completely dismiss it because I have seen studies that Ivermectin has some beneficial measured effects in situations where it has no business being effective. I admit not knowing what I don't know. My take on Ivermectin is that it is wrong or dangerous to promote it doing what it can't do, but it also doesn't sound like it is dangerous. Maybe one of the reasons that the medical establishment demonized it in the beginning was not because they really thought the drug itself is dangerous, but that people relying on it over more proven methods is. If that was the thinking, it certainly backfired. Your example of your friend who made a full recovery because of Ivermectin has no support scientifically other than anecdotal evidence.

Lastly, your take on "leftist" media outlets "creating" stories. I personally couldn't care less who wrote the story, only that it is factual. Vaccines work, and the Covid vaccine works. How well it works and what the dangers are can certainly be discussed and that's a reasonable debate to have. Attaching any sort of political stance to that argument is illogical however - even if the pro/anti Covid vaccine line seems to mostly divide people along political lines. I admitted that I extrapolated the "commie" part, but you certainly DID infer that people who are pro-vax are leftists. I am imploring you and others to stop using that line of reasoning. You can only make that determination if you ascertain that the person you're arguing with actually has outed themselves as a leftist, and even then it's not an indicator of the correctness of their scientific claims.

You are apparently attributing the deaths of 6 people to the vaccine, even though you admit it's anecdotal data and there was no autopsy (I presume) to link the vaccine to the deaths.

You claim: "But the shit is poison to the body and most definitely did not do what it was claimed to do". That is a very bold statement and I do not believe that the data exists to support your claim. Here's my reasoning, and it's a variation of "Occam's razor": Let's assume that your premise is correct, that the vaccine is useless and has some other nefarious purpose or side effect or is poisonous in some way. Developing the vaccine for that express purpose and then keeping it quiet are outside the realm of possibility, as it presupposes that THOUSANDS of people involved in the development, manufacture, and distribution are ALL behind the plan, and that none of them spilled the beans. You will never find human beings acting in such concert. If you were an employee at one of the companies in question, do you really think that you would keep quiet if you found out something as monstrous as what you allege? And if you wouldn't keep quiet, why do you think a plethora of people would allow it to occur? That would presuppose that everyone involved is a psychopath.

I have no problem with anything you said. I very strongly agree with this statement: "A lot of lumping of people into boxes goes on around here." That is particularly true of just about ANY emotional discussion on Arfcom these days. People pigeon-hole each other way too quickly and that's the prime reason I see behind the decline in the quality of GD over the years. "Don't like my particular interpretation of the facts? You're a commie!" Don't agree with me 100% on this issue? You're a fascist". You can find someone cheering on a poster in one thread where they agree, and then calling the same person a commie in another thread where they disagree. It's just maddening...

I'll make one more post about the dangers presented by the vaccine. According to this Bloomberg story, approximately 12.7 BILLION doses have been administered: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/

I challenge anyone to describe a mechanism by which the shot was not only useless, but actually dangerous, and if not dangerous immediately how it presents a carefully-crafted long-term risk - all with 12.7 Billion guinea pigs out in the wild.

I got really sick on Wednesday afternoon. Really sick. Took Motrin and some other OTC stuff. Went hiking the next morning. Ergo: Motrin "cured" my Covid.

I felt crappy again the next afternoon, but more Motrin, etc...