Anti Vaxxer I Knew Became A Nurse

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 24, 2023

To be fair. I used to be an anti-vaxxer. Being a nurse changed my views on the topic.

allnurses Guide · Nov 24, 2023

I actually know several nurses who are anti-vax. Even before Covid I had a colleague who wouldn't vaccinate his kids and even sent them to school sick. If anyone in his family had a fever they chewed raw garlic. He wore a mask at work during Covid but would often comment about the whole thing being a conspiracy set up by non-religious people. Fortunately he moved his whole family to somewhere in the Bible Belt.

Hppy

**LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM** · Nov 24, 2023

hppygr8ful said:

I actually know several nurses who are anti-vax. Even before Covid I had a colleague who wouldn't vaccinate his kids and even sent them to school sick. If anyone in his family had a fever they chewed raw garlic. He wore a mask at work during Covid but would often comment about the whole thing being a conspiracy set up by non-religious people. Fortunately he moved his whole family to somewhere in the Bible Belt.

Hppy

Same, I know plenty of nurses who are anti-vax. The science courses in nursing programs typically aren't overly rigorous, IMO. It shouldn't be a thing but it is.

**CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN** · Nov 25, 2023

klone said:

To be fair. I used to be an anti-vaxxer. Being a nurse changed my views on the topic.

Actually I often forget that my mom was anti-vax when I wsa growing up (I had some catchup to do when I moved states with a family member). She was a hippie and into all the "natural" stuff. Tons of garlic eating. She's since fine with vaccines, but still a bit leery of modern medicine.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Nov 26, 2023

I'm not antivax, but I was thoroughly offended when they mandated Covid shots before they were approved by the FDA. I am not a science experiment. There are more reasons than stupidity to decline mandated vaccines.

abbnurse · Nov 26, 2023

I work with several nurses who are anti - vax. When a newer nurse stated she decided to get her first Covid vaccine , I overheard one of the anti - vax nurses saying to her " They GOT to you, didn't they ? They GOT to you ! "

And, similar to Hppy's experience, I have listened to many comments about the whole Covid thing being some type of enormous conspiracy.

toomuchbaloney · Nov 26, 2023

canoehead said:

I'm not antivax, but I was thoroughly offended when they mandated Covid shots before they were approved by the FDA. I am not a science experiment. There are more reasons than stupidity to decline mandated vaccines.

They weren't approved by the FDA?

Why do you believe that Covid vaccination was an experiment on the public? Isn't it more of an experiment to suggest that people try and see if they can just acquire immunity through infection during a pandemic? Lots of those people died, developed long covid or discovered that acute viral illness can have all kinds of unpleasant consequences, like myocarditis, blood clots, and GBS.

Stupidity was likely the biggest reason that people declined the covid vaccines. In 2020 the biggest spreader of covid misinformation was the president of the USA. Millions of people believed the political opportunists who jumped on that bandwagon and published lots and lots of unscientific opinion and "concern" for those inclined to believe the POTUS.

Acute care medical facilities have been requiring vaccines for staff since forever.

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 27, 2023

toomuchbaloney said:

They weren't approved by the FDA?

No, not initially. They had an EUA (emergency use authorization). The FDA did not actually fully. approve the Covid vaccine (for 16 and older) until I believe late August of 2021, which was a full 8 months after we started administering the vaccine.

Crazy to think about, but we were also in a global pandemic. Unprecedented times create situations where we do things we wouldn't normally dream of doing normally.

toomuchbaloney · Nov 27, 2023

klone said:

No, not initially. They had an EUA (emergency use authorization). The FDA did not actually fully. approve the Covid vaccine (for 16 and older) until I believe late August of 2021, which was a full 8 months after we started administering the vaccine.

Crazy to think about, but we were also in a global pandemic. Unprecedented times create situations where we do things we wouldn't normally dream of doing normally.

I know it seems crazy, but EUA is actually FDA approval (authorization) to use the vaccine for the identified illness. What wasn't FDA approved was use of Ivermectin to treat coronavirus illness.

What was spectacularly unprecedented was having the American president working against public health recommendations to mitigate the pandemic while spreading dangerous misinformation.

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Nov 27, 2023

There are a lot of anti-vax nurses out there. Long before Covid. I'll never understand it. When I applied for nursing school I had to show proof of vaccines or titers. No opt outs. Also had to get flu shot every year.

chare · Nov 27, 2023

toomuchbaloney said:

I know it seems crazy, but EUA is actually FDA approval (authorization) to use the vaccine for the identified illness. ...

[...]

No, an FDA EUA isn't the same as approval.

Quote

[...]

Under section 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), when the Secretary of HHS declares that an emergency use authorization is appropriate, FDA may authorize unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions caused by CBRN threat agents when certain criteria are met, including there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives. The HHS declaration to support such use must be based on one of four types of determinations of threats or potential threats by the Secretary of HHS, Homeland Security, or Defense.

[...]

Emergency Use Authorization