Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-55280466

In today’s ‘this guy is a complete idiot but honestly rather impressive’ news...

@nessisonett sounds like something out of Florida. Y'know, Man Rides to Cuba on Alligator to Circumvent Lockdown Rules or something like that. Still, quite impressive.

I am wondering though, he can't come to the island but they have "busy nightclubs"? Strange.

@zupertramp The Isle of Man is a strange place regardless. I’m not surprised they have busy nightclubs because it exists in the Twilight Zone.

So, at the risk of being labeled a nut job, is it wrong to admit to having some reservations about taking the Covid vaccine? I'm not generally anti vax or anything. I'm up to date on my shots as are my kids (flu, hpv, you name it). And I'm not looking to get out of taking this vaccine when it becomes available but I'm not gonna lie, I have a natural mistrust of giant multinational pharmaceutical companies and the fact that we got here so quickly doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

Really not trying to sow doubt, just wondering if I'm alone on this.

@zupertramp I look at it this way — what choice do we have? Live like this another year or two while we all get comfortable with the long term safety data? Our world can’t handle another year like this. Let alone another 3-5. The healthcare system is on the verge of collapse, the economy is on thin ice, and the collective mental health of the populace is hanging on by a thread. We have no choice but to take a chance. Sign me up.

@zupertramp Basically what @Th3solution said, the government and pharmaceutical companies gain absolutely nothing from us all dying or turning into mutants from the vaccine. In fact, the most profitable path is for the vaccine to work completely as intended so that more countries buy up orders. Plus governments need us to go back to work as quickly as possible and it just makes no sense to make things worse if the vaccine is dodgy. I don’t trust governments or big pharma either, which is why I know that they have their financial interests at heart, in which case Covid going away as quickly as possible is the right move.

@nessisonett @Th3solution Good points. Plus it's not like I know of some previous vaccine that turned out to be unsafe so there's that too, I guess.

Must admit, I am trying to get my head round why such a large percentage of people don't want to take a vaccine that will protect them and their loved ones from a virus that has so far killed over 1.6 million people. And the more people who take it, the safer everyone will be, I can only suppose that the amount of misinformation out there is making so many people more and more paranoid.

To clarify, this comment isn't aimed at anyone here, it's just so strange that a standard question now seems to be, "Will you take the vaccine if it's offered to you?"

@LieutenantFatmam

Edit: no worries btw. I agree it's a question that shouldn't be as common as it is.

This could be down to whether you live in the states or not, where we've witnessed a president pressure scientific organizations into saying things they didn't believe lest they lose funding for going against whatever stupid/false thing he said that week.

It's mostly that but also the mistrust of Big Pharma who didn't seem to mind getting the entire rustbelt/midwest hooked on opioids because they're either negligent or the population's health and safety isn't necessarily the top priority. Or both.

Also there's the people who don't really believe that Covid is all that serious and these are likely the same people who were staunchly anti vaxx anyway so there's that element as well, I'm sure.

@zupertramp Vaccines have extremely stringent safety checks and high standards. From my perspective I figure it’s better to have them than risk getting seriously unwell. A year ago I had meningo-encephalitis, which is rare, and I am not going down that road again as I am still dealing with the after-effects.

@mookysam Right I hear you. And you have my sympathies as well. Again this isn't meant to serve as some sleeper anti-vaxx post, I'm very much going to get the vaccine when it's available in my area. And that's largely out of consideration for what getting Covid could do to other people. (I'm not particularly vulnerable, nor is anyone else in my immediate family.) I just wanted to express my mild concern more just to get it off my chest and to see if I was alone, even amongst those I consider to have a relatively sane view on this matter generally.

@zupertramp The speed the vaccine has been made is due to governments helping with "red tape" problems but also the money being poured into means that the developers have been able to push ahead rather than tip toe along for risk of losing money if it doesn't work. As others have said, there's a big incentive for them to make the best one!

My reservations had been over the press release claims of the extraordinary success rates of the vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer having 95% success rates!) but these have held up once the evidence has been peer reviewed (i.e. reviewed by scientists in that field who are not involved in the vaccine development).

The Oxford vaccine may "only" have a 70% success rate but that is more than good enough (I think over 60% is deemed worthwhile), particularly as it is easier to make, store, and transport as well as being cheaper to make so will be a huge boost for countries that can't throw money at the ones mentioned previously.

I'm just REALLY glad that Trump hasn't been beating the anti-vax drum. We'll basically never get the sort of mask compliance we need in the States because of him.

Still expecting a lot of right-wing nonsense about the vaccines turning us into communists or something. If you believe conspiracies about cell phone towers giving you covid symptoms and/or Hugo Chavez's ghost hacking voting machines, I'm afraid you'll eat up just about anything.

@Thrillho The Oxford one increases to 90 odd percent when they use the correct dosing, the first testing had an error with dosage! That’s absolutely the best one imo, the ease of storage and low cost means it can be shipped across the world and to the poorest of countries. Considering certain low cost vaccines still haven’t been distributed across Africa however, it wouldn’t surprise me if the vaccine just didn’t make it outside the richest of countries.

@nessisonett I think that was only on a small number of participants that were of a younger age group and without much ethnic diversity in the group so they're doing bigger trials to see if it's still the case. Fingers crossed but it might be skewed because of that.

I'm hopefully getting mine in January once the hospital I'm in gets it's supplies. A few friends in other sites have already had theirs.

@Ralizah it was my understanding he's a little miffed he's not getting more credit for it, having spearheaded Operation Warp Speed or whatever. So I think it's entirely possible he turns on it (the vaccine) once he leaves office. But who knows.

Anyway, thanks for the replies from everyone. I did read them.

@zupertramp You know... that wouldn't surprise me one little bit. Maybe we're not out of the woods yet in that regard.

Operation Warp Speed is even messing up with regard to obtaining and distributing the vaccine. Everything that man touches is poisoned by his ineptitude. It's staggering.

@Ralizah @zupertramp OPERATION WARP SPEED

What the hell is with Americans and their operation names oh man, it’s like Chuck Norris movies!

@nessisonett yeah, there's no defending it. shrugs

@zupertramp Just to add: There are dozens of independent institutions who are approving vaccines before they can be sold. And every country usually has their own independent research institutions as well.

The media has been beating this rhetoric that vaccines take 10 years to develop, and this is such an amazing exception, except that in reality it isn't. They're grossly oversimplifying it for a clickbait headline, but they're also feeding the anti-vaxxers this way. It also doesn't help that so many websites have headlines like ''Will the coronavirus vaccine cause infertility? Here’s what you need to know'', even if the answer is a straight up no, it doesn't exactly instill confidence in those are just out there looking for more information.

Also, FYI those 10 years often include incredibly silly things like 3 years for building the labs where vaccines are manufactured. Yes, if you take every individual step and start from scratch, it's going to take a long ass time, but most of it already exists. Research and development are comparable to similar viral strands. So is testing; and money wasn't as issue with this virus, whereas plenty of other (regular) research is often put on hold, or progresses a lot slower because of the lack of money.

If it is of any help, as a biologist, I don't see how this vaccine can cause any severe long term side effect other than its intended cause. Worst case scenario it simply doesn't work.