Originally posted by RobA_Oz I recently read an article by a GP in Hawaii, suggesting that we’re deceiving ourselves about COVID-19 vaccines. He wasn’t advocating against vaccination, but highlighting what he saw as misleading or overly optimistic interpretations of the current data about the vaccines. While his own interpretations may be similarly flawed, of course, I think he missed an opportunity to emphasise a universal truth, and that is that nothing is 100% guaranteed. All the things we do, not just in the medical field, are subject to elements of risk. All any of us can do is to assess the available and verifiable information, and make a decision based on the level of risk we’re willing to take, but too many people seem to believe we can eliminate risk altogether – it simply isn’t so.
Trying to minimise risk is the reason I’ve now had my two shots of AZ vaccine, but I don’t kid myself it’s an iron-clad guarantee.
There's some data indicating that the Moderna vaccine has the best staying power of the vaccines available in the US, particularly versus the Delta variant. The Pfizer vaccine effectiveness dropped below 50 percent, while Moderna stayed in the 70s.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.06.21261707v1.full.pdf This is why they are recommending boosters.
The biggest reasons to get vaccinated have to do, not with preventing infection, but preventing serious illness. All of the shots seem to do that pretty well. Reducing hospitalizations, death, and long-haul COVID all seem decent reasons to get vaccinated, even if you don't have 100 percent certainty that you won't catch COVID after the vaccine.