7 ms·

I wager it's more to avoid the "what, a 3rd dose?" reaction. "Booster" is more positive than "we told you it would be immunization, but actually it's partial a

I wager it's more to avoid the "what, a 3rd dose?" reaction. "Booster" is more positive than "we told you it would be immunization, but actually it's partial and limited, and you have to do it again. Woops, now again". Especially since people have been talking about a 4th dose. In the context of distrust of the pharma industry, it would be easy to have the social networks to claim pfizer is trying to become the netflix of vaccine and sell shots as a service. So they are very careful with the wording.

Enginerrrd 5y ago
Booster is also established immunology nomenclature that perfectly fits the situation, I don't think it's an attempt to "spin" it.
snovv_crash 5y ago
Well, it was effective as promised against the strains it was marketed as effective against. Those strains have been effectively eradicated. The issue is Delta, and now Omicron, which developed after the vaccine was designed.
- Thiez 5y ago
  They also said the vaccine targeted the spike protein, which was said to be very unlikely to mutate since it's such a vital part of the virus and there is little room for variation.
  - seoaeu 5y ago
    Unlikely to mutate much. The vaccine still remains effective because the new variants still have very similar spike proteins
formerly_proven 5y ago
> "we told you it would be immunization, but actually it's partial and limited, and you have to do it again. Woops, now again" This is often portrayed as something people say, do they actually? Because that's exactly how it works with e.g. the flu. It's called yearly flu shot for a reason... 'cause it's yearly. [x] Usually occurs in waves during winter [x] Vaccine is effective for around 4-6 months [x] Vaccine does not confer sterile immunity [x] Transmitted through air [x] Transmitted especially in crowds and enclosed rooms [x] Masks work [x] Infects respiratory tract but can cause severe auto-immune inflammation afterwards [x] Can cause long-term respiratory issues [x] Many people do OK being infected, but long tail of death
listless 5y ago
Given how sick the second dose made me, I'm not keen on doing this every 6 months. Not keen.
- MadeThisToReply 5y ago
  My thoughts exactly. Why suffer through 1-2 days of sickness every 6 months to protect myself against an illness that I've already had and poses no threat to my demographic anyway? Sounds like the cure is worse than the disease. I smell a rat.
  - junon 5y ago
    Because it reduces spread and thus reduces the chance of mutations becoming dominant. The vaccine is not only about protecting the individual.
    - swader999 5y ago
      It doesn't reduce spread in a significant enough amount to make a difference. This seems especially true with Omicron and the spread through vaccinated air travellers. It encourages mutating variants to escape/prevail because it reduces severity so you are more likely to function socially and keep spreading it.
      - junon 5y ago
        > It doesn't reduce spread in a significant enough amount to make a difference Yes, it does. > This seems especially true with Omicron and the spread through vaccinated air travellers. Nobody knows yet. We don't have enough data. Anyone who says something definitive about Omicron is either basing it off of a small amount of early data, or is lying to you. Things like infection rate, hospitalization and death are all lagging indicators. We do not have enough data to make such assertions yet. > It encourages mutating variants to escape/prevail because it reduces severity so you are more likely to function socially and keep spreading it. This we agree on - which is why vaccination is so important. It does reduce spread. Not sure where you got the idea it does not. --- E (to the person who responded to me): Your response was flagged and dead before I even came back to look, so it wasn't me. Nice try calling me "cowardly" though. The vaccine does reduce spread of the virus(es) it is made for. That statement had little to do with omicron. My second point about assertions still stands. I don't think my comment was that hard to decipher, and certainly didn't warrant calling me names. Being purposefully obtuse about relatively simple concepts is generally not well received on HN. Perhaps that's why you were immediately flagged.
Thiez 5y ago
I strongly feel like it's the other way round. There are already diseases where we have multiple doses, like Tetanus[1]. If they said "hey, turns out we need a third and a fourth dose like with Tetanus, and then maybe a booster every 10 years" then that would be fine, and I think most people would accept that. But the word booster suggests to me they want to become (I hadn't heard the expression before, but I love it) "the Netflix of vaccine". Especially now that the EU has declared that vaccination certificates will expire 9 months after the last vaccination. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus_vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus_vaccine

Enginerrrd 5y ago

Booster is also established immunology nomenclature that perfectly fits the situation, I don't think it's an attempt to "spin" it.

snovv_crash 5y ago

Well, it was effective as promised against the strains it was marketed as effective against. Those strains have been effectively eradicated. The issue is Delta, and now Omicron, which developed after the vaccine was designed.

Thiez 5y ago
They also said the vaccine targeted the spike protein, which was said to be very unlikely to mutate since it's such a vital part of the virus and there is little room for variation.
- seoaeu 5y ago
  Unlikely to mutate much. The vaccine still remains effective because the new variants still have very similar spike proteins

formerly_proven 5y ago

> "we told you it would be immunization, but actually it's partial and limited, and you have to do it again. Woops, now again" This is often portrayed as something people say, do they actually? Because that's exactly how it works with e.g. the flu. It's called yearly flu shot for a reason... 'cause it's yearly. [x] Usually occurs in waves during winter [x] Vaccine is effective for around 4-6 months [x] Vaccine does not confer sterile immunity [x] Transmitted through air [x] Transmitted especially in crowds and enclosed rooms [x] Masks work [x] Infects respiratory tract but can cause severe auto-immune inflammation afterwards [x] Can cause long-term respiratory issues [x] Many people do OK being infected, but long tail of death

listless 5y ago

Given how sick the second dose made me, I'm not keen on doing this every 6 months. Not keen.

MadeThisToReply 5y ago
My thoughts exactly. Why suffer through 1-2 days of sickness every 6 months to protect myself against an illness that I've already had and poses no threat to my demographic anyway? Sounds like the cure is worse than the disease. I smell a rat.
- junon 5y ago
  Because it reduces spread and thus reduces the chance of mutations becoming dominant. The vaccine is not only about protecting the individual.
  - swader999 5y ago
    It doesn't reduce spread in a significant enough amount to make a difference. This seems especially true with Omicron and the spread through vaccinated air travellers. It encourages mutating variants to escape/prevail because it reduces severity so you are more likely to function socially and keep spreading it.
    - junon 5y ago
      > It doesn't reduce spread in a significant enough amount to make a difference Yes, it does. > This seems especially true with Omicron and the spread through vaccinated air travellers. Nobody knows yet. We don't have enough data. Anyone who says something definitive about Omicron is either basing it off of a small amount of early data, or is lying to you. Things like infection rate, hospitalization and death are all lagging indicators. We do not have enough data to make such assertions yet. > It encourages mutating variants to escape/prevail because it reduces severity so you are more likely to function socially and keep spreading it. This we agree on - which is why vaccination is so important. It does reduce spread. Not sure where you got the idea it does not. --- E (to the person who responded to me): Your response was flagged and dead before I even came back to look, so it wasn't me. Nice try calling me "cowardly" though. The vaccine does reduce spread of the virus(es) it is made for. That statement had little to do with omicron. My second point about assertions still stands. I don't think my comment was that hard to decipher, and certainly didn't warrant calling me names. Being purposefully obtuse about relatively simple concepts is generally not well received on HN. Perhaps that's why you were immediately flagged.

Thiez 5y ago

I strongly feel like it's the other way round. There are already diseases where we have multiple doses, like Tetanus[1]. If they said "hey, turns out we need a third and a fourth dose like with Tetanus, and then maybe a booster every 10 years" then that would be fine, and I think most people would accept that. But the word booster suggests to me they want to become (I hadn't heard the expression before, but I love it) "the Netflix of vaccine". Especially now that the EU has declared that vaccination certificates will expire 9 months after the last vaccination. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus_vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus_vaccine