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This thread is to discuss reasons for and against getting vaccinated, and how they should factor into an individual’s decision to get vaccinated or not.
Outline:
Reasons for:-
(1) To protect oneself against getting seriously ill if infected,
(2) To protect others, by (2.1) reducing viral load if infected and thus reducing how infectious you are to other people; (2.2) reducing strain on health services and thus make better treatment available for those that really need it.
(3) To reduce the chances of variants of the virus arising
Reasons against:-
(A) Risk of side effects / adverse reaction to the vaccine
(B) Other health conditions that make getting vaccinated more risky than for other people
It seems to me that most people’s decision should be based on a risk-benefit calculation, comparing (1-3) against (A-C).
For example, we know that younger people are less at risk of serious illness from COVID, and also they have a longer lifetime ahead of them to live with any adverse effects. So their calculation is likely to lean towards the not getting vaccinated end. And, likewise, we know that older people are much more likely to have a serious illness if infected, and (being older) are going to be affected for a shorter time if they have adverse effects from the vaccine. So it seems reasonable that such people should get vaccinated.
One thing that does strike me, is that there seems to be a lot of weight being put on (2) as a reason to get vaccinated – ‘to protect other people’. Apart from questions about how much being vaccinated actually does protect other people, it seems to me that this is not reasoning that we apply equally in other areas of life.
There are many behaviours that people do, and many that they refuse to do, that come under the heading of ‘protecting/ harming others’.
For example, we allow people to drink alcohol, and to become alcoholic, even though this means a high cost to society in terms of healthcare for people who have damaged their bodies by abusing alcohol; family violence; general violence; drunk driving and the deaths that causes, and so on. Yet we don’t apply the degree of pressure against this harmful behavior that we are applying towards getting people to be vaccinated against COVID. We don’t accept that a hospital (say) has the right to refuse a job to a trainee doctor because he drinks alcohol, yet we seem OK with that happening if he decides not to get vaccinated.
We can make similar parallels with other behaviours. Obesity through overeating and lack of exercise is another one. (I’m not talking about people who have weight problems due to metabolic disorders, medication for other conditions, etc) People who voluntarily choose to become obese, thus damaging their own health, and requiring the use of valuable healthcare facilities etc to care for them. Not to mention other accommodations and expenses such as larger furniture in public places etc. We don’t seem to regard this behavior as one that should be severely discouraged, say by introducing a ‘BMI passport’, where people who have an unhealthy BMI are restricted from access to some public spaces and services.
This seems therefore to weaken the case for vaccination, since we are over-weighting (2) compared to many other damaging behaviours we do accept, or at least tolerate, in society.
Thoughts?
Outline:
Reasons for:-
(1) To protect oneself against getting seriously ill if infected,
(2) To protect others, by (2.1) reducing viral load if infected and thus reducing how infectious you are to other people; (2.2) reducing strain on health services and thus make better treatment available for those that really need it.
(3) To reduce the chances of variants of the virus arising
Reasons against:-
(A) Risk of side effects / adverse reaction to the vaccine
(B) Other health conditions that make getting vaccinated more risky than for other people
It seems to me that most people’s decision should be based on a risk-benefit calculation, comparing (1-3) against (A-C).
For example, we know that younger people are less at risk of serious illness from COVID, and also they have a longer lifetime ahead of them to live with any adverse effects. So their calculation is likely to lean towards the not getting vaccinated end. And, likewise, we know that older people are much more likely to have a serious illness if infected, and (being older) are going to be affected for a shorter time if they have adverse effects from the vaccine. So it seems reasonable that such people should get vaccinated.
One thing that does strike me, is that there seems to be a lot of weight being put on (2) as a reason to get vaccinated – ‘to protect other people’. Apart from questions about how much being vaccinated actually does protect other people, it seems to me that this is not reasoning that we apply equally in other areas of life.
There are many behaviours that people do, and many that they refuse to do, that come under the heading of ‘protecting/ harming others’.
For example, we allow people to drink alcohol, and to become alcoholic, even though this means a high cost to society in terms of healthcare for people who have damaged their bodies by abusing alcohol; family violence; general violence; drunk driving and the deaths that causes, and so on. Yet we don’t apply the degree of pressure against this harmful behavior that we are applying towards getting people to be vaccinated against COVID. We don’t accept that a hospital (say) has the right to refuse a job to a trainee doctor because he drinks alcohol, yet we seem OK with that happening if he decides not to get vaccinated.
We can make similar parallels with other behaviours. Obesity through overeating and lack of exercise is another one. (I’m not talking about people who have weight problems due to metabolic disorders, medication for other conditions, etc) People who voluntarily choose to become obese, thus damaging their own health, and requiring the use of valuable healthcare facilities etc to care for them. Not to mention other accommodations and expenses such as larger furniture in public places etc. We don’t seem to regard this behavior as one that should be severely discouraged, say by introducing a ‘BMI passport’, where people who have an unhealthy BMI are restricted from access to some public spaces and services.
This seems therefore to weaken the case for vaccination, since we are over-weighting (2) compared to many other damaging behaviours we do accept, or at least tolerate, in society.
Thoughts?
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