this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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Technically that advice will somewhat depend on statistics about infections which haven't occurred yet. At this stage the CDC advice is to get 1 dose of any of the 3 available vaccines if you haven't already done so in the last 12 months (for people aged 12-65)
I wonder how long before they just roll this into the yearly flu vaccine? It doesn't seem like something that is ever going away until all the anti-vaxxers die.
Yeah probably not but it depends on how the virus changes over time. I read there is some early research potentially indicating that symptom severity is lower in the current wave than Omicron. If so and if that becomes a continuing trend that may impact the rate at which we vaccinate (or whether new vaccines need to be developed etc)
One of the difficult aspects of this is the varying degree of resistance to it. I've never tested positive for covid. I have had symptoms that led me to self-test a couple times, always ended up being something that went away quickly. I can't say for certain that I've never had it, but none of the people I have been around ever popped up with symptoms that week either. I did get my vaccinations for the first couple years but have let them lapse. My mom is the same way, never had any signs that seemed like she had it, never tested positive when she checked, and unfortunately we could never convince her to get vaccinated. On the other hand, my sister and brother-in-law keep getting covid at the drop of a hat, so while there may be some good resistance in the family, not everyone got so lucky.
But that's part of the problem... if you never get sick and don't really show any symptoms of having covid, why take time to get vaccinated? I think about it now and then, but never get around to making an appointment for an update, and I'm sure many others are just as apathetic. And then you have people who are dying in hospitals and still insisting that covid isn't a real disease. So I think the reality is that we're never going to get full control of it until medicine gets to the point where we can get a single lifetime vaccine and never have to worry about it again.
For herd immunity. Even endemic viruses can be eradicated if its spread is sufficiently restricted. Not everyone in a community needs to participate in being vaccinated for the community to achieve that. Perhaps your herd is already there (outside your family).
Besides, it's an easy excuse to take a sick day.
Heh I never got sick from the vaccines, so no luck there. And I'm actually exposed to quite a log of people where I work, so it's really amazing I don't get sick all the time. Yeah definitely gotta make a push to get updated next month though even if it doesn't do anything for me.