And herein lies the problem...that anyone who has chosen to not be vaccinated is 'anti-vax'. I'm not 'anti-vax'...my children were vaccinated. Because I had Chicken Pox I get a Shingles shot. Because I enjoy outdoor activities and because I run around barefoot I get a Tetanus shot. After I was diagnosed with late onset Type II Diabetes I made sure to get an annual Influenza shot. Last year was the first time I didn't one in almost 20 years, but I didn't feel it was necessary under the circumstances (gloves, masks, physical distancing, etc), but I will be getting one this year. So...
NOT anti-vaccine.
Without question, life in general would be so much easier if I received the vaccine. For one I could dispense with masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and alcohol spritzer...my purse would be lighter, my glove box would be less full, my desk at work would be less cluttered. For another there is a thousand dollar 'bonus' from work...I could use that money to stock up on larger quantities of FOs or maybe get a couple of slab molds and a loaf cutter or maybe a really nice chair for my home office. Best yet, I wouldn't have to deal with all the "you're either with us or you're against us"...sorry to tell folks, but the world is NOT black and white.
This is from Johns Hopkins...I consider(ed) them, as I believe many people do, to be a leading authority in the medical field:
All three vaccines authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been thoroughly tested and found to be safe and effective in preventing severe COVID-19. They continue to undergo continuous and intense safety monitoring.
Johns Hopkins Medicine is administering all three COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. We view all three vaccines as highly effective in preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 and that their benefits outweigh their risks.
First of all, they have not been "thoroughly tested", it is simply NOT possible in given timeline. Average time for vaccine development is 10 - 12 years with 86%-90% failure rate. Add in rapid development and urgency of producing a vaccine and you increase the risks and failure rate of delivering a safe, effective vaccine. You have R&D, Pre-Clinical Trials (animal), then there are Phase 1, 2 and 3 Trials (human), then it's off to the FDA and if approved, Phase 4 (sick people, follow up). Even with a SARS vaccine that had been development since 2009, over 300 companies involved, the best of the best working, billions of dollars, the WHO estimated in February 2020 that it would take a minimum of 18 months. In June 2020, China approved the CanSino vaccine, in August 2020, Russia approved the Sputnik V vaccine (it never went far), in September 2020 the UAE approved the Sinopharm's vaccine for healthcare workers with further use in November, in December 2020 the US approved the Moderna vaccine, the UK approved Oxford/AstraSenecca. When all these, and other vaccines were approved, the majority weren't even in Phase 3...the efficacy and effective rates being touted were based on computer models. So in a nutshell, everyone in the world who has received a Covid-19 vaccine, are in fact, part of the Phase 3 Trials, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.
Then there is the two statements highlighted in red...suggest folks read it a second and third time, I know that I did. When the vaccine was first released, it was supposed to keep folks from getting Covid and when folks started showing up with Covid after being vaccinated, it was suggested that those folks had been exposed to Covid just prior to receiving the vaccine or during the two weeks it takes for the vaccine to become effective. As more vaccinated folks started showing up with Covid, they came up with "breakthrough infections" and how it was caused by low vaccination rates and variants, but it would prevent "severe" Covid. But now that has changed to just "highly" effective as vaccinated folks are being hospitalized and dying. And blaming the variants on the unvaccinated...that's not how viruses work. If a virus can infect you, it has no reason to mutate, it only mutates when it can't infect you.
My husband and I have had several long conversation about getting vaccinated; we'd both done extensive research, spoke with medical professionals, spoke with close friends and family to get different opinions, weighed the pros and cons. My husband is sick...it's been over a decade since he went through radiation therapy that left him disabled and worsening a little more every year. Even though he is in remission for the cancer, there is no cure or treatment for the damaged caused...the best that can be done is to try and management the worst and it's not much. So we decided he would get vaccinated first...of course he had to wait for all the "beautiful" people to get vaccinated first before he was eligible, but he finally 'qualified'. He's still alive, so there is that. As to whether it actually 'works'...can't say. He not running around exposing himself, partly because he can't run (sorry, gotta have humor), but mostly because if it doesn't work (it's still an experimental vaccine), he doesn't want to put myself, my daughter (she's had Covid, but there is no guarantee that she is immune) or others at risk. We'll see what next year brings...in the meantime, we will continue to be cautious around everyone.