1106 Get the Facts
The world is divided in two: On the one side are those who accept there is a pandemic and steps need to be undertaken to fight it. On the other side are those who think it's all a hoax, and they follow conspiracy theorists who tell them 1) CoViD is just a flu, 2) there's no need to vaccinate, 3) vaccines are dangerous. Methinks it is important to sort the facts from the delusions.
COVID-19 vaccines – Is it true?
Some people advise us not to get vaccinated against CoViD. I find it difficult to understand the anti-vaxers ("I refuse to get vaccinated") and also the fence-sitters ("I'll just wait to see if it's safe") ... the same arguments - which had been disproven long ago - are popping up again and again.
In this discussion about CoViD, one needs to decide if one wants to trust the verifiable public health authorities, the World Health Organization and expert medical opinion ... or alternative facts. I favour the former and reject the latter. The emphasis here is on 'verifiable' and 'expert' as opposed to 'alternative'.
The important point is that it is dangerous to “do your own research”. You have no idea what you are looking at … but you are likely to go down a rabbit hole where you find stuff that confirms any prejudices against vaccinating you may have, in line with anti-vaxer misinformation and conspiracies (Bill Gates?).
So, what is it about CoViD vaccinations?
1) They save lives, and don't cause deaths: Reuters
The VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) page clearly states that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, “under the most intense safety monitoring in United States history,” and recommends receiving the vaccine as soon as possible
"The risk of serious adverse reactions has remained extraordinarily low for all modern vaccines” Our World in Data
Methinks this is one of the most dangerous furphies of our time, that vaccinations are dangerous ... that they cause side-effects and that they may cost lives. They're not ... but they do, and they may.
Yet, in comparison to the positive effects - of not only vaccines, but medicine in general - those concerns are dwarfed.
2) The AstraZeneka CoViD vaccine is very safe, it causes on average
one or two deaths per million, much less than other activities cause death;
the deaths from CoViD in Australia are 38 per million (944 : 25 = 38)
3) There are no alternative medicines that work:
Ivermectin is not a viable option to treat COVID-19 patients
Is Ivermectin a cure for CoViD-19?
Hydroxychloroquine
Following a review of available scientific and clinical data, the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce have strengthened their recommendation against the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. The taskforce notes that based on available evidence "hydroxychloroquine is potentially harmful and no more effective than standard care in treating patients with COVID-19. We therefore recommend that hydroxychloroquine should not be used."
BBC News: Hydroxychloroquine 'does not save lives'
Wikipedia: There are many claims that existing products help against COVID-19, which are spread through rumors online
THE CONVERSATION
"Thinking of trying ivermectin for COVID? Here’s what can happen with this controversial drug".
The story with ivermectin is that it is not a medication that works on viruses, but parasites. It is said, ivermectin is not meant to work on the virus, but it is to alleviate side effects of the virus. Well, it does indeed do that, but in order to get any of those benefits, one apparently has to take many times the dose that is recommended for its prime purpose, parasite control. As a result people (in America) in large numbers overdose and end up with very serious health problems. Now this is the thing: yes, you can go down that path, but it certainly is much better not to get the virus in the first place.
4) ABC: Our country is locked down; at least 70% (currently 20% - 30%) need to be vaccinated for it to open up, for businesses to be resurrected
5) The Australian: Only real options are: Vaccination or risk death by Delta
6) APNews: Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated
7) CDC: COVID-19-Delta is becoming a "pandemic of the unvaccinated"
8) COVID-19 vaccines – Is it true? A good Q&A at Health.gov.au
History of Vaccines: Since WWII many viral diseases had vaccines invented for their prevention, like Polio, Measels, Influenza, Chickenpocks, Mumps, Wooping Cough, Cholera, Typhoid, Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Meningococcal, Hepatitis A, Pertussis etc …
Our World in Data: Reasonable estimates of lives saved due to vaccinations are in the range of around 5 million lives per year, which implies that between 1980 and 2018 around 150 to 200 million lives have been saved.
The Conversation: Millions are rejecting one of humanity’s best weapons for saving lives: Vaccine
Vaccination has been the most successful medical procedure ever introduced. It has saved more lives than any other intervention. “The risk of serious adverse reactions has remained extraordinarily low for all modern vaccines;” again: ... COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, “under the most intense safety monitoring in United States history,”
CNN: Covid-19 vaccines saved nearly 280,000 lives in the US
Google search: "How many Deaths from CoViD?" There have been about 207m cases of CoViD 19, and approx. 4.35m deaths; it is reasonable to suggest that millions of deaths have been prevented by the CoViD vaccines administered.