Quote:
Originally Posted by Byte1
To preface my comment, I have my shots. That said, I do NOT encourage or discourage anyone from getting the vaccination. The reason I refuse to encourage my children and grandkids/great grandkids to get vaccinated with this vaccine is that I am NOT totally positive that there are not some possible negative side effects that may occur several years from now. I just do not know and they can not give us guarantees. I doubt I would believe them if they did. You can give me tons of subject matter to study, but the ONLY way one is to get true, historical facts is after a period of time. Since my children and grandchildren have had the virus (most of them) and have survived with little effort, hardly more than suffering a cold, I do not see the harm of them refusing the vaccination. If they get it, so be it. I will not discourage them from getting the shots. My opinion is that children should not be given the vaccination until we are sure it is essential. Yes, I understand there was much research and testing. BUT, I would feel much better after we have the results of the vaccinations after a decade or two to be sure something as serious as sterility or other forms of disease are not cased as a side effect.
Don't get me wrong, the vaccination HAS been a miracle and has saved probably millions of lives in the world. Would I have gotten the vaccination if not for my spouse's medical condition? Maybe not. Am I glad I did get my shots? So far, yes.
To summarize, the reason I will not encourage or discourage anyone to get the shot is that I do not want to be responsible for the guilt I would feel if I was instrumental in a bad reaction or permanent damage caused by the vaccine.
|
Very good post, thank you.
Two things, not to argue but expand on what you say.
1. There will never be a guarantee. There was only be a reason to believe it is better than the alternative. I don't believe there is a single medication that is without side effects - and sometimes those side effects seem worse than the issue the medication is supposed to treat.
2. Time - I am not a doctor or medical researcher, I am not aware of what methods are available to predict long-term effects. I know in the computer industry. And long term reliability is a crucial component of total product life cycle costs for companies (it should be for people too, but most people impulse buy) There are numerous methods to do accelerated aging and to determine probably or expected component failures. Since the healthcare industry deals with people's lives and has a history of "oh darns" (Thalidomide among others) I would be amazed if they don't also have methodologies that allow for accelerated long-term outcome prediction.