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I see nothing wrong with this, now that the vaccines appear to be in plentiful supply. If you think you need the extra protection, why not? It would have been

I see nothing wrong with this, now that the vaccines appear to be in plentiful supply. If you think you need the extra protection, why not? It would have been different back in the early days, when there wasn't enough to go around. Then it made sense to restrict vaccines to the most vulnerable (elderly, people in poor health, people who are exposed a lot in the course of their employment...)

throaway46546 5y ago
The recommendation wasn't about vaccine supply. It was about the dubious benefit of boosters for the general population.
- Turing_Machine 5y ago
  It doesn't matter whether the benefits are dubious or not, IMO. People take all kinds of OTC (and prescription) drugs for dubious benefits. If there's plenty to go around, why not let people decide that for themselves? Edit: https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19-vaccine-market-dashboard https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19-vaccine-market-dashbo... 20.9 billion doses have been secured. If someone can't get a first or second dose, it's because their government is fucked up in some way, not because there is a shortage of the raw vaccines.
  - mikem170 5y ago
    Much of the world still can't get their first shots. > Rich countries have about twice the population of low-income countries, yet they have received about 50 times as many Covid-19 vaccine doses [0] [0] https://www.vox.com/22759707/covid-19-vaccine-gap-covax-rich-poor-countries-boosters https://www.vox.com/22759707/covid-19-vaccine-gap-covax-rich...
  - sojournerc 5y ago
    OTC drugs have gone through _long-term_ studies. 12 months is not long-term.
  - throaway46546 5y ago
    >why not let people decide that for themselves? I agree completely.
- justinpombrio 5y ago
  What in the world? Really? My understanding is that Booster shots are extremely effective at further preventing the spread of Covid. Indeed, the first result I get when searching "covid booster effectiveness" says that booster shots reduce infections by a factor of 11: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/09/studies-show-good-covid-booster-effect-waning-2nd-dose-protection https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/09/studies-... And if you don't get infected, you can't spread it. So there should be a big public health benefit to giving boosters to as many people as possible. Am I misunderstanding something, or was the reasoning behind the recommendation stupid?
  - throaway46546 5y ago
    It is my understanding that they found there was not enough evidence showing the benefit to healthy adults vs the increased risk of side effects. Now that there is more evidence they might reconsider.
jillesvangurp 5y ago
I have an appointment for getting my booster shot next month. Won't hurt me and might save me from hospitalization or worse. I know several people that have had Covid at this point. Several of those had a rough time. A few of them were vaccinated and mostly had minor symptoms (comparatively) but still not nice. For me the reasoning is very simple: I want to maximize my chances if I get infected and minimize my chances for actually getting infected. Vaccines do that. And I definitely want to minimize the risk of me spreading this to somebody else that might actually die. For example, I know of one case of a person that got infected and then visited his parents. They died; he lives apparently. COVID sucks. Those still arguing that it's all a big com-plot by Bill Gates or whatever, stop being selfish needle shy dicks, and get vaccinated already. Lets face it, men are pathetic weasels when it comes to needles and that's all there's to this. Been there done that. Get over it. People are dying. Don't be part of the problem and stop rationalizing the fact that you are scared of a tiny little needle.
- dang 5y ago
  Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar, regardless of how wrong other people are or you feel they are. It helps nothing. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

throaway46546 5y ago

The recommendation wasn't about vaccine supply. It was about the dubious benefit of boosters for the general population.

Turing_Machine 5y ago
It doesn't matter whether the benefits are dubious or not, IMO. People take all kinds of OTC (and prescription) drugs for dubious benefits. If there's plenty to go around, why not let people decide that for themselves? Edit: https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19-vaccine-market-dashboard https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19-vaccine-market-dashbo... 20.9 billion doses have been secured. If someone can't get a first or second dose, it's because their government is fucked up in some way, not because there is a shortage of the raw vaccines.
- mikem170 5y ago
  Much of the world still can't get their first shots. > Rich countries have about twice the population of low-income countries, yet they have received about 50 times as many Covid-19 vaccine doses [0] [0] https://www.vox.com/22759707/covid-19-vaccine-gap-covax-rich-poor-countries-boosters https://www.vox.com/22759707/covid-19-vaccine-gap-covax-rich...
- sojournerc 5y ago
  OTC drugs have gone through _long-term_ studies. 12 months is not long-term.
- throaway46546 5y ago
  >why not let people decide that for themselves? I agree completely.
justinpombrio 5y ago
What in the world? Really? My understanding is that Booster shots are extremely effective at further preventing the spread of Covid. Indeed, the first result I get when searching "covid booster effectiveness" says that booster shots reduce infections by a factor of 11: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/09/studies-show-good-covid-booster-effect-waning-2nd-dose-protection https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/09/studies-... And if you don't get infected, you can't spread it. So there should be a big public health benefit to giving boosters to as many people as possible. Am I misunderstanding something, or was the reasoning behind the recommendation stupid?
- throaway46546 5y ago
  It is my understanding that they found there was not enough evidence showing the benefit to healthy adults vs the increased risk of side effects. Now that there is more evidence they might reconsider.

jillesvangurp 5y ago

I have an appointment for getting my booster shot next month. Won't hurt me and might save me from hospitalization or worse. I know several people that have had Covid at this point. Several of those had a rough time. A few of them were vaccinated and mostly had minor symptoms (comparatively) but still not nice. For me the reasoning is very simple: I want to maximize my chances if I get infected and minimize my chances for actually getting infected. Vaccines do that. And I definitely want to minimize the risk of me spreading this to somebody else that might actually die. For example, I know of one case of a person that got infected and then visited his parents. They died; he lives apparently. COVID sucks. Those still arguing that it's all a big com-plot by Bill Gates or whatever, stop being selfish needle shy dicks, and get vaccinated already. Lets face it, men are pathetic weasels when it comes to needles and that's all there's to this. Been there done that. Get over it. People are dying. Don't be part of the problem and stop rationalizing the fact that you are scared of a tiny little needle.

dang 5y ago
Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar, regardless of how wrong other people are or you feel they are. It helps nothing. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html