I'm an Anti-Vaxxer, Which Vax Should I Get?

[Anonymous]

Pfizer seems like the obvious choice. I like that I’ve been able to follow how it’s working in Israel. Nobody I know who’s had Pfizer has had severe side effects. Mostly just a sore arm. I had zero for shot 2; very sore arm for shot one.

Thank you for doing this OP. Big picture: This seems like our only way out of this pandemic and the most compassionate thing we can do for our fellow man. Covid is causing so much suffering around the globe. We pretty much have to trust public health experts here; what other choice is there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m same OP. But yes will get this vaccine. I’m not anti vaxx tho .... just very thorough in my thought process of modern medicine. I have seen many drs not take their “do no harm” oath seriously enough.

I’m leaning towards J&J but I have no tendency towards blood clots ... and I was under the impression the mRNA also have a clot risk. Although rare for all around.

I would say Pfizer over Moderna, no question

I worry if there are other reasons why they pulled the JJ off the market. I like the one and done but it just seems risky. My doctors couldn't give me advice either way with the medications I'm on as the medications are new, few people on them and the vaccines are new. It was very scary to take my first dose but Pfizer was fine.

They didn't pull J&J off the market - they paused it to find out more. They ended up finding 15 cases instead of 7, out of 1.4 million women. They also had time to get the word out to drs. that if a patient shows up to your office or to the ER, do not treat the traditional way.

That said, there are 2 other great options out there so I'm not pushing J&J, just wanted to clarify that.

15 is 15 too many for me. Its easy to minimize it when its not you having the reaction.

My lord. So you never leave your house (lightening strike)? Never drive (crash), never take medication of any kind (side effects), don’t drink alcohol (liver damage, poisoning), never fly anywhere (crash)? I mean do you even eat (risk of choking)? I mean, 5000 people died from choking in 2018. That’s 5000 too many for me. It’s easy to minimize death from choking when it’s not you choking to death on your lunch, right PP?

[Anonymous]

OP you can always think of and find reasons to not take the vaccine. We did Pfizer in January and I think we held hands we were so scared. Afterwards with no side effects we were like ... what was so scary? Scary is getting Covid. Or spreading it to others.

[Anonymous]

About 50 of us at work were vaccinated with Moderna on the same day. Shot one was no big deal, lots of sore arms and a few headaches. After dose 2, only a handful of people took the next day off...though I’d say most of us were dragging (headache, very tired) that day. A few ran fevers that second night and woke up fine but tired the next day.

If I weren’t high risk, I’d have waited for Pfizer because there is more data on it from Israel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

15 is 15 too many for me. Its easy to minimize it when its not you having the reaction.

My lord. So you never leave your house (lightening strike)? Never drive (crash), never take medication of any kind (side effects), don’t drink alcohol (liver damage, poisoning), never fly anywhere (crash)? I mean do you even eat (risk of choking)? I mean, 5000 people died from choking in 2018. That’s 5000 too many for me. It’s easy to minimize death from choking when it’s not you choking to death on your lunch, right PP?

This. Our inability to understand risk is crippling this country.

[Anonymous]

Pfizer seems to have done more follow up. I'd go with that one. Nearly everyone I knew had pretty minimial side effects from pfizer. Everyone seemed to have a sore arm and were tired the next day. A few had fever or body ache which lasted <24 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did OP ever clarify what the “near death” side effects were? I may have missed it.

He was pale and laid the eff up for 2 days.

This would make me nervous too. My husband was down for 36hrs and he never ever gets sick or complains. I was worried too. It’s just strange to me how significant these reactions are. Unlike any other vaccine

Actually a lot of vaccines have these kinds of side effects. The shingles vaccine can be brutal in people. I remember the first time I ever got a flu shot, I felt ill for days. I get a flu shot every year and it was fine ever since then, but that first year was rough. My DH got the flu mist this year for the first time ever (he's a needlephobe, and though he has gotten the COVID vaccine, he avoids needles when he can) and it knocked him off his ass! A healthy, fit, 46 year old man, from a MIST!

So yes, a lot of vaccines you get for the first time can do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m same OP. But yes will get this vaccine. I’m not anti vaxx tho .... just very thorough in my thought process of modern medicine. I have seen many drs not take their “do no harm” oath seriously enough.

I’m leaning towards J&J but I have no tendency towards blood clots ... and I was under the impression the mRNA also have a clot risk. Although rare for all around.

I would say Pfizer over Moderna, no question

I worry if there are other reasons why they pulled the JJ off the market. I like the one and done but it just seems risky. My doctors couldn't give me advice either way with the medications I'm on as the medications are new, few people on them and the vaccines are new. It was very scary to take my first dose but Pfizer was fine.

They didn't pull J&J off the market - they paused it to find out more. They ended up finding 15 cases instead of 7, out of 1.4 million women. They also had time to get the word out to drs. that if a patient shows up to your office or to the ER, do not treat the traditional way.

That said, there are 2 other great options out there so I'm not pushing J&J, just wanted to clarify that.

15 is 15 too many for me. Its easy to minimize it when its not you having the reaction.

My lord. So you never leave your house (lightening strike)? Never drive (crash), never take medication of any kind (side effects), don’t drink alcohol (liver damage, poisoning), never fly anywhere (crash)? I mean do you even eat (risk of choking)? I mean, 5000 people died from choking in 2018. That’s 5000 too many for me. It’s easy to minimize death from choking when it’s not you choking to death on your lunch, right PP?

You are just going to confuse someone who doesn't understand that operating a motor vehicle is risky no matter how carefully they drive. Or that vehicle crashes have unknown and potentially long term iimpairments. You never have all the data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m same OP. But yes will get this vaccine. I’m not anti vaxx tho .... just very thorough in my thought process of modern medicine. I have seen many drs not take their “do no harm” oath seriously enough.

I’m leaning towards J&J but I have no tendency towards blood clots ... and I was under the impression the mRNA also have a clot risk. Although rare for all around.

I would say Pfizer over Moderna, no question

I worry if there are other reasons why they pulled the JJ off the market. I like the one and done but it just seems risky. My doctors couldn't give me advice either way with the medications I'm on as the medications are new, few people on them and the vaccines are new. It was very scary to take my first dose but Pfizer was fine.

They didn't pull J&J off the market - they paused it to find out more. They ended up finding 15 cases instead of 7, out of 1.4 million women. They also had time to get the word out to drs. that if a patient shows up to your office or to the ER, do not treat the traditional way.

That said, there are 2 other great options out there so I'm not pushing J&J, just wanted to clarify that.

15 is 15 too many for me. Its easy to minimize it when its not you having the reaction.

That's fine, but you are taking a much bigger risk by chancing it on COVID. You just are. You are an adult and can make your own decision, but you can't pretend you are not taking a significant risk with COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

15 is 15 too many for me. Its easy to minimize it when its not you having the reaction.

My lord. So you never leave your house (lightening strike)? Never drive (crash), never take medication of any kind (side effects), don’t drink alcohol (liver damage, poisoning), never fly anywhere (crash)? I mean do you even eat (risk of choking)? I mean, 5000 people died from choking in 2018. That’s 5000 too many for me. It’s easy to minimize death from choking when it’s not you choking to death on your lunch, right PP?

This. Our inability to understand risk is crippling this country.

I avoid 3 out of 6 of those things for the reasons given.

[Anonymous]

I'm vaccine-conscious too. I got my first dose of Pfizer and no notable effects. I did get a migraine with an aura 2 days after the shot but it may be a coincidence. It scared the shit out of me though because I had never experienced it before and it came without a headache, just the visual disturbances. Anyway. Out of the 3 options, Pfizer was my preference. I have had sever allergies to injectable drugs before but no reaction to Pfizer.

[Anonymous]

Perversely, I’m going to go with J&J. My trust in the public health authorities is so low at this point, the fact that they seem to want to push people toward the mRNA vaccines makes me want to do the opposite. YMMV, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

15 is 15 too many for me. Its easy to minimize it when its not you having the reaction.

My lord. So you never leave your house (lightening strike)? Never drive (crash), never take medication of any kind (side effects), don’t drink alcohol (liver damage, poisoning), never fly anywhere (crash)? I mean do you even eat (risk of choking)? I mean, 5000 people died from choking in 2018. That’s 5000 too many for me. It’s easy to minimize death from choking when it’s not you choking to death on your lunch, right PP?

This. Our inability to understand risk is crippling this country.

I avoid 3 out of 6 of those things for the reasons given.

So you’re ok with crashing and choking? Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did OP ever clarify what the “near death” side effects were? I may have missed it.

He was pale and laid the eff up for 2 days.

This would make me nervous too. My husband was down for 36hrs and he never ever gets sick or complains. I was worried too. It’s just strange to me how significant these reactions are. Unlike any other vaccine

Actually a lot of vaccines have these kinds of side effects. The shingles vaccine can be brutal in people. I remember the first time I ever got a flu shot, I felt ill for days. I get a flu shot every year and it was fine ever since then, but that first year was rough. My DH got the flu mist this year for the first time ever (he's a needlephobe, and though he has gotten the COVID vaccine, he avoids needles when he can) and it knocked him off his ass! A healthy, fit, 46 year old man, from a MIST!

So yes, a lot of vaccines you get for the first time can do this.

Was just going to post this. My husband recently got his first shingles shot, and he was out of commission for about 36 hours: exhausted, headache-y, sore. He slept a ton. It’s normal!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, these vaccines are neither experimental nor unapproved. Saying things like this are why people rightly refer to you as anti-vax. You sound like an uninformed moron.

That said, I am very happy you’re getting the vaccine and would recommend Pfizer. It seems most of the real world studies have been on pfizer, and it is incredibly effective against all known variants, and incredibly safe.

These are false statements: the vaccine has not been formally approved, it has been authorized pursuant to an “Emergency Use Authorization.” “Experimental” is of course more subjective, so you can fight about that, but I think it is more fair to say that than not given the relative novelty of the technology. You’d agree, I assume, that the mRNA vaccines are the first of their kind to be deployed at this kind of scale.

I think it is important to be precise on terminology — inaccurate statements are driving vaccine hesitancy as much as anything else at this point, it seems to me. It would be much more persuasive to acknowledge the uncertainties and appeal to risk-benefit justification rather than shout down anyone with concerns as a moron anti-vaxer. Not that that will stop you, lol.