Quote from: VaruLV on January 16, 2022, 21:16:45
Yeah, except that covid vaccines dont work the way, what I presume to be, your beloved vaccines work. Its a different virus and with different vaccines than for other diseases that had been erradicated by the help of vaccines.
All the date thus far shows that neither can Covid be erradicated with the help of vaccines, nor does they stop the spread of it.
A good, working vaccine is one you get boosted once in some 10 years, if boosted at all, not the one that doesnt work on current Omicron variant and, according to some loonatics, should be administered in the form of boosters every 4-9 months, depending on loonatic subscribing such dosage.
All vaccines are not the same, they dont work the same and neither are the viruses the same, so, please, dont spread this misinformation that has no base in facts about C19 vaccines being as efficient as those that have saved millions and stopped diseases in their tracks, because there is no such vaccine for C19 and there might never be.
I wouldn't say I love vaccines. In general, I avoid taking drugs unless actually needed. I don't pop pills to make myself happy or make pain go away. Actually, since I have received very painful injections as a child, I very much feared needles. However, I do consider them the lesser evil.
As far as I know, there is a whole virus SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, for example. Hardly a new technology. There is also a protein subunit vaccine, if I remember correctly, another type considered proven (used, for example, in hepatitis B vaccine). Personally, I went for the new stuff - mRNA. Very interesting technology. We're talking about so called anti-waxxers. That's not limited to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. And you don't have to practically eradicate a virus or a disease to prove that a vaccine is safe. That's what it's about - how much safer is the vaccine compared to the virus, accounting for the likelihood of encountering it. More and more people nowadays refuse vaccination in general. They don't want their new-borns to be vaccinated. And it's an ongoing debate whether a parent should be allowed to make that decision, to take such a risk with child's life. We shouldn't forget that vaccines did a lot of good. That they do have a pretty good track record. How many vaccines can you name that went to market and were subsequently pulled because of harmful side effects? How many people were affected? Especially in more recent times in developed countries. I'm more worried about antibiotics use. I'm not afraid of antibiotics, I fear losing them because some idiots pop them like candy, feed them to healthy animals and prescribe them needlessly. I trust EMA to do their job. This is, after all, why we want to have institutions that can resist political pressure.
It's a sneaky little bugger, isn't it. Fortunately, it's not that deadly. You have to realize that the vaccines we have were made against the original. It's a little miracle they still work at all. And a testament to how good they were. Also, they were not designed to stop transmission (you'd probably need a vaccine that gets sprayed up your nose rather than injected into a muscle, given that it's a corona virus). We just hoped they would help. And they do. It would have been so much worse without them. We hoped protection would last at least 12 months and it might, against the original. Because it's fighting a virus it wasn't designed for, we need higher antibody counts. And older people do have weaker response. It spreads very fast which makes fighting it difficult. Coincidentally, I'm due for a booster tomorrow. If I have to take another booster six months from now, I will. Hopefully, it will be an updated version. The problem isn't the vaccine, the vaccine is surprisingly good, it's the virus. What else can we do? To me, this is a situation that needs solving. I can't sit on my hands. Vaccine is here, it's my duty to take it and do my tiny little part. It's nothing compared to volunteering in hospitals or care homes. Funny thing is that I happen to be a person who hates being told what to do and having to do things. I appreciate that I can make the decision myself. I just can't figure out a better plan. It matters not whether I like it.
For example, 15 years ago, encephalitis vaccine required boosters every three years. Now, it's five years (well, I think it's four to six). That doesn't mean it can't last longer. Boosters are typically given without performing an antibody test. Often, such a test wouldn't be economical. You've got to account for people with weaker immune response. Vaccines get better, our understanding of required antibody level improves as well. I went without a booster for 12 years and still had sufficient antibody count. That doesn't mean everybody would. Who knows where it will be in 30 years. One challenge with SARS-CoV-2 is that we don't really know where the protection level is (at least as far as I know). It takes time to learn these things. Some viruses are harder to vaccinate against. HIV is an example. And HIV vaccine research was of huge help in the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. We have had vaccine against influenza for a while now and it also wasn't eradicated and requires shots every year. That's life.