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I am not sure it is about "anti-vax" folks so much in this case. Many are wary of getting a vaccine with < year of testing, not to mention relatively new techno

I am not sure it is about "anti-vax" folks so much in this case. Many are wary of getting a vaccine with < year of testing, not to mention relatively new technology (mRNA). That isn't entirely unreasonable, though I did end up getting the Moderna shot.

dawnerd 6y ago
JnJ isn’t mRNA just in case that’s what you were implying.
- miked85 6y ago
  Thanks for clarifying. I didn't mean to imply that.
GrifMD 6y ago
That’s fair, but I’d prefer to get the vaccine over something developed by bats https://xkcd.com/2397/ https://xkcd.com/2397/
- marvin 6y ago
  That's an entertining soundbite, but other health complications nonwithstanding, the risk of dying from Covid for a healthy 25-year old is approximately 1:500,000. It's an individual decision, and although there are many factors both individual and societal, it's counterproductive to yell (or jokingly imply, as Munroe did in your link) "antivaxxer!!" whenever someone has some concern. Many European health authorities have e.g. concluded that the risk of death from the AstraZeneca vaccine is greater than the risk of Covid infection in young people. Unless one assumes that these health authorities are wrong, this would indeed be an example where a time-limited amount of caution wasn't obviously irrational. Was it a black swan event that one of the ~7 vaccines that passed clinical trials turned out to fail the risk/benefit ratio in some regions? No, that's probably to be expected with the probabilities involved. We can still have confidence both in vaccines and health authorities after such an event, my point is that saying "you're stupid" in intellectual-ese is rarely the most productive response. Not everyone who has some concern is a rabid conspiracy theorist.
maxerickson 6y ago
There's not really extensive long term use of the viral vector vaccines either. Like, there's an Ebola vaccine that was approved in the last couple years.

dawnerd 6y ago

JnJ isn’t mRNA just in case that’s what you were implying.

miked85 6y ago
Thanks for clarifying. I didn't mean to imply that.

GrifMD 6y ago

That’s fair, but I’d prefer to get the vaccine over something developed by bats https://xkcd.com/2397/ https://xkcd.com/2397/

marvin 6y ago
That's an entertining soundbite, but other health complications nonwithstanding, the risk of dying from Covid for a healthy 25-year old is approximately 1:500,000. It's an individual decision, and although there are many factors both individual and societal, it's counterproductive to yell (or jokingly imply, as Munroe did in your link) "antivaxxer!!" whenever someone has some concern. Many European health authorities have e.g. concluded that the risk of death from the AstraZeneca vaccine is greater than the risk of Covid infection in young people. Unless one assumes that these health authorities are wrong, this would indeed be an example where a time-limited amount of caution wasn't obviously irrational. Was it a black swan event that one of the ~7 vaccines that passed clinical trials turned out to fail the risk/benefit ratio in some regions? No, that's probably to be expected with the probabilities involved. We can still have confidence both in vaccines and health authorities after such an event, my point is that saying "you're stupid" in intellectual-ese is rarely the most productive response. Not everyone who has some concern is a rabid conspiracy theorist.

maxerickson 6y ago

There's not really extensive long term use of the viral vector vaccines either. Like, there's an Ebola vaccine that was approved in the last couple years.