3 ms·

Never would I have thought I'd see the day when a relatively cut-and-dry question of epidemiology and public health would get so thoroughly contaminated by para

Never would I have thought I'd see the day when a relatively cut-and-dry question of epidemiology and public health would get so thoroughly contaminated by paranoia, hucksterism, and opportunistic politics that it would routinely be treated with shameless false what-aboutism on HN, of all places. We all live in Russia now.

pdimitar 5y ago
Same here, although your comment can be taken both ways, you realize that right? The virus and its symptoms are cut and dried alright. The experimental vaccines, not so much. But think what you will. I am giving up.
- HelloMcFly 5y ago
  > The experimental vaccines, not so much. If hundreds of millions of administered doses under highly-observed and reported on outcomes from the world's most-respected (not perfect) public health agencies won't convince you, what will? It's been a year, and I believe there's only one vaccine ever to have emergent side effects after that time, and even then the median time to symptoms was <50 days (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-018-0851-5 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-018-0851-5). Yet we have seen COVID definitely has side effects, and they have a much higher likelihood of persisting. And if your response is "we won't know until it's been 5, 10, etc. number of years" then OK, fine, but the same then must hold for COVID itself. If I'm betting on the long-term effects to my health, does it not follow to choose the highly-researched vaccine with quantified minimal side effects vs. the highly-researched infection with worse side effects? Now it's my turn to give up.
  - keneda7 5y ago
    Not the original poster but genuinely curious here and I do agree with your long term covid statement. We do not know. But I strongly disagree with you calling the health agencies "most-respected (not-perfect)". Didn't these same health agencies approve opioids saying they weren't dangerous or addictive? Then spend a decade trying to cover it up with the pharma companies? Then they got hired by the same company's whose drugs they approved? Today fentanyl overdoses are the number one cause of deaths for my age group (18-45 https://www.google.com/search?q=fentanyl+overdoses+number+one+killer https://www.google.com/search?q=fentanyl+overdoses+number+on...) in the US. That is a direct result of these pharma companies and health agencies. All it took was a little bit of money and our lives became meaningless. How can I trust any agency that was willing to kill me for a couple bucks? If you are unsure what I am talking about (https://www.google.com/search?q=opioid%20epidemic%20documentary https://www.google.com/search?q=opioid%20epidemic%20document...). IMO HBO's Crime of the century does a good job of laying out just how ridiculous the whole thing is.

pdimitar 5y ago

Same here, although your comment can be taken both ways, you realize that right? The virus and its symptoms are cut and dried alright. The experimental vaccines, not so much. But think what you will. I am giving up.

HelloMcFly 5y ago
> The experimental vaccines, not so much. If hundreds of millions of administered doses under highly-observed and reported on outcomes from the world's most-respected (not perfect) public health agencies won't convince you, what will? It's been a year, and I believe there's only one vaccine ever to have emergent side effects after that time, and even then the median time to symptoms was <50 days (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-018-0851-5 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-018-0851-5). Yet we have seen COVID definitely has side effects, and they have a much higher likelihood of persisting. And if your response is "we won't know until it's been 5, 10, etc. number of years" then OK, fine, but the same then must hold for COVID itself. If I'm betting on the long-term effects to my health, does it not follow to choose the highly-researched vaccine with quantified minimal side effects vs. the highly-researched infection with worse side effects? Now it's my turn to give up.
- keneda7 5y ago
  Not the original poster but genuinely curious here and I do agree with your long term covid statement. We do not know. But I strongly disagree with you calling the health agencies "most-respected (not-perfect)". Didn't these same health agencies approve opioids saying they weren't dangerous or addictive? Then spend a decade trying to cover it up with the pharma companies? Then they got hired by the same company's whose drugs they approved? Today fentanyl overdoses are the number one cause of deaths for my age group (18-45 https://www.google.com/search?q=fentanyl+overdoses+number+one+killer https://www.google.com/search?q=fentanyl+overdoses+number+on...) in the US. That is a direct result of these pharma companies and health agencies. All it took was a little bit of money and our lives became meaningless. How can I trust any agency that was willing to kill me for a couple bucks? If you are unsure what I am talking about (https://www.google.com/search?q=opioid%20epidemic%20documentary https://www.google.com/search?q=opioid%20epidemic%20document...). IMO HBO's Crime of the century does a good job of laying out just how ridiculous the whole thing is.