Third Shot
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Ted Rall in the WSJ:
I was fully vaccinated six months ago. I walked into a pharmacy last week and got another Pfizer shot. I didn’t tell the pharmacist it was my third; she didn’t ask. Since the U.S. has no central database of immunization records, the store had no way to know I’d been vaccinated at a federal facility.
My friends and family disapprove. “A one-man study of the effects of three doses?” one said dryly. “That sounds safe.” Another, left-leaning and vaccine-skeptical: “This won’t be the last ‘booster’ shot you’ll ‘need.’ Every couple months you’ll be showing up for the latest injection.”
I have a history of lung disease: asthma, swine flu, pneumonia six times, bronchitis more times than I know. In November 2019 I contracted a mysterious illness while on business in Los Angeles. It felt like a vicious flu but I tested negative. X-rays indicated incipient pneumonia; I felt winded after a few steps; my olfactory senses went haywire, with some spicy foods tasting bland and vice-versa. I don’t know if I had the coronavirus—antibody tests were inconclusive—or if I could survive something similar.
Israel’s Health Ministry recently announced that after five months a double dose of the Pfizer vaccine remains 91% effective at preventing severe disease but only 39% effective against infection. Israelis over 60 who received their last shot at least five months ago are eligible for a third dose. Germany said it will offer third shots to the elderly and sick starting next month, and White House officials told reporters they will soon advise Americans who are over 65 or immunocompromised to get them. I’m 57. Given my respiratory history, why shouldn’t I get one too?
Is there an argument that I did the wrong thing? On Wednesday the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots so that more doses can go to low-income nations. Earlier the New York Times quoted Maureen Kelley of the WHO: “If I make a decision to go get a booster, I think I’m complicit in my government’s or the pharma companies’ decisions,” she said. “I don’t think we can easily separate out the individual decisions from these kind of more policy-level decisions.”
I think we can. If I believed that there was a chance my booster might deprive someone of a vaccine, I wouldn’t have gotten it. So I made up my mind after reading a report that states were likely to toss 26.2 million unused doses due to low demand. My decision had no effect on policy, and I saved a vaccine dose from the garbage.
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@george-k said in Third Shot:
Another, left-leaning and vaccine-skeptical: “This won’t be the last ‘booster’ shot you’ll ‘need.’
I call shenanigans! The facts show that polls say vax hesitant people are all old white conservatives. I read that here.
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Nope. At first approximation they are Magats, blacks, and granola chicks.
When you shake someone's deep sense of self-worth, leaving a scar in their ego, they will persistently try to diminish you through petty arguments & obsessive captious criticism of your actions, just to soothe the wound.
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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I've noticed in the UK that there's a cluster of semi-pro musicians who are anti-vax covid deniers.
For the purposes of this discussion, a semi-pro musician is an amateur musician who thinks they are a professional musician.
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@george-k said in Third Shot:
Is there an argument that I did the wrong thing? On Wednesday the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots so that more doses can go to low-income nations. Earlier the New York Times quoted Maureen Kelley of the WHO: “If I make a decision to go get a booster, I think I’m complicit in my government’s or the pharma companies’ decisions,” she said. “I don’t think we can easily separate out the individual decisions from these kind of more policy-level decisions.”
I don’t know what the WHO is making a stink about. They have ivermectin. They can totally embarrass the US.
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@loki said in Third Shot:
@george-k said in Third Shot:
Is there an argument that I did the wrong thing? On Wednesday the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots so that more doses can go to low-income nations. Earlier the New York Times quoted Maureen Kelley of the WHO: “If I make a decision to go get a booster, I think I’m complicit in my government’s or the pharma companies’ decisions,” she said. “I don’t think we can easily separate out the individual decisions from these kind of more policy-level decisions.”
I don’t know what the WHO is making a stink about. They have ivermectin. They can totally embarrass the US.
The question on Ivermectin is does it work and when should it be given? I think the jury is out on both counts.
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@jolly said in Third Shot:
@loki said in Third Shot:
@george-k said in Third Shot:
Is there an argument that I did the wrong thing? On Wednesday the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots so that more doses can go to low-income nations. Earlier the New York Times quoted Maureen Kelley of the WHO: “If I make a decision to go get a booster, I think I’m complicit in my government’s or the pharma companies’ decisions,” she said. “I don’t think we can easily separate out the individual decisions from these kind of more policy-level decisions.”
I don’t know what the WHO is making a stink about. They have ivermectin. They can totally embarrass the US.
The question on Ivermectin is does it work and when should it be given? I think the jury is out on both counts.
You have 7 billion prospects for it, why not hand it out like candy and see what happens? A conspiracy to kill it in the US is irrelevant to its healing powers.
