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Right, I believe the messaging around vaccines exacerbates the issue too. Especially with mrna covid-19 vaccines, the condescending tone used by the CDC and med

Right, I believe the messaging around vaccines exacerbates the issue too. Especially with mrna covid-19 vaccines, the condescending tone used by the CDC and media outlets while implying no safety risks throw people off. If you don't upfront say there's some risk and explain it it gives room for antivaxxer propaganda that builds on those doubts. IMHO, the media campaigns for the mRNA vaccines did the opposite of that. All existing vaccines have risk, however they're at least a factor off 100 safer. I find if you explain this, and why they're still a good choice people respond well. Especially if you give the history of people / scientists working on them. There was a study posted on HN a while back that showed mothers who were given an explanation months before birth had a higher vaccination uptake rate.

freehorse 4y ago
It is the word "vaccine" that somehow triggers scary narratives in these crowds; recently, in denmark a very common antibiotic was found that it contained a bunch of highly antibiotic resistant bacteria, causing disease to a few people, and having unpredictable consequences for a lot more in the future (as it seems that these antibiotic resistant bacteria have colonised them and can potentially trigger disease any point). If this was a vaccine it would have triggered a lot of different narratives than just being in some news.
PoignardAzur 4y ago
> All existing vaccines have risk, however they're at least a factor off 100 safer mRNA vaccines are qualitatively different, though, not just slightly further on a sliding scale. The only risks AFAIK are from the delivery mechanism and the immune response; the payload itself is, well, mRNA molecules, which can't produce pathogens at all.
- btilly 4y ago
  What you say is both true and misleading. While you correctly identify the cause, the rates of myocarditis and pericarditis younger people receiving the vaccine are far higher than with other vaccines we give. See https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/5/e059223 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/5/e059223 for verification. As a result some countries, such as Sweden, have opted to NOT offer COVID vaccines to children under 12. https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/25/covid-vaccine-for-children-who-in-europe-is-leading-the-race https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/25/covid-vaccine-for-c... The fact that the USA shut down the discussion before it even happened is a problem.
- elcritch 4y ago
  > The only risks AFAIK are from the delivery mechanism and the immune response Which is a risk. The mRNA vaccines AFAICT are somewhere around a factor 100x safer than covid-19 for the general population. I hope research gets published that get that number more accurate. Also, it seems risks like myocarditis stem from the lack of common best practices around the delivery mechanism like dosing and hopefully could be reduced.

freehorse 4y ago

It is the word "vaccine" that somehow triggers scary narratives in these crowds; recently, in denmark a very common antibiotic was found that it contained a bunch of highly antibiotic resistant bacteria, causing disease to a few people, and having unpredictable consequences for a lot more in the future (as it seems that these antibiotic resistant bacteria have colonised them and can potentially trigger disease any point). If this was a vaccine it would have triggered a lot of different narratives than just being in some news.

PoignardAzur 4y ago

> All existing vaccines have risk, however they're at least a factor off 100 safer mRNA vaccines are qualitatively different, though, not just slightly further on a sliding scale. The only risks AFAIK are from the delivery mechanism and the immune response; the payload itself is, well, mRNA molecules, which can't produce pathogens at all.

btilly 4y ago
What you say is both true and misleading. While you correctly identify the cause, the rates of myocarditis and pericarditis younger people receiving the vaccine are far higher than with other vaccines we give. See https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/5/e059223 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/5/e059223 for verification. As a result some countries, such as Sweden, have opted to NOT offer COVID vaccines to children under 12. https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/25/covid-vaccine-for-children-who-in-europe-is-leading-the-race https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/25/covid-vaccine-for-c... The fact that the USA shut down the discussion before it even happened is a problem.
elcritch 4y ago
> The only risks AFAIK are from the delivery mechanism and the immune response Which is a risk. The mRNA vaccines AFAICT are somewhere around a factor 100x safer than covid-19 for the general population. I hope research gets published that get that number more accurate. Also, it seems risks like myocarditis stem from the lack of common best practices around the delivery mechanism like dosing and hopefully could be reduced.