(So glad I stumbled across this website again after almost 6 years! I need to change my username because I am not an aspiring nurse anymore, I have been a nurse for almost 3 years! ?)
Anyway, I really do not want to take this new covid vaccine. I know I can’t be the only one who feels this way. Typically I am not an anti-vaxxer but something about this illness is making me think otherwise. For personal reasons I really do not want to take it when available at my hospital, but I’m afraid it will be mandatory. I am almost considering finding a new job if my hospital forces us all to take it. What a shame because I do like my job and wouldn’t know what else to turn to that isn’t nursing, because chances are most healthcare related places of employment will likely require all employees take it.
I want to use the excuse of it being against my religion but I already took the flu vaccine this year. I have nothing against the flu vaccine but didn’t necessarily want it, but my hospital practically FORCED everyone to take it unless they grant you an exemption. I’m afraid they’ll question me why I took the flu shot but cannot take the covid vaccine.
What do you guys think about this? Will you be taking the vaccine? I just want us to be able to make our own decisions about this. If patients can refuse medications, procedures, and treatments, why can’t healthcare workers do the same? I read in multiple articles it will not be required by the federal government but each state and employer can decide whether or not it will be mandatory.
And forget the $1500 “stimulus check” that may be offered if you take it. All the money in the world would not change my mind about taking the vaccine. I feel as though if you have to bribe people to take it, something is peculiar.
I don’t know why this is bothering me so much. It should be a choice in my opinion. But by telling a few friends about not wanting it I feel judged. I have worked with covid patients multiple times since I am one of the younger nurses who does not have any kids/am pregnant. I feel like week after week I was always chosen to go to the covid section. At first I was mad but now it doesn’t bother me. I am not afraid to be near covid patients. Luckily through all this time I haven’t caught it. I always tell people I’d rather catch it than get this vaccine. That’s how strongly I feel against taking the vaccine. All of my non-nursing who have had covid are covered and thriving. To me catching it isn’t the biggest deal but others have called me selfish because I could be spreading it to others. Why is it looked at as selfish for not wanting to inject something into MY body. #mybodymychoice
Am I thinking about this too much? What would you do?
Also as stories like this https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/health/covid-pfizer-vaccine-allergic-reaction.html become more common in the coming weeks and months you will be lucky to get 25% of people to take the vaccine. If vaccine herd immunity is your strategy then you are in for a great deal of disappointment. It is going to take "exposure" herd immunity. Each of us will probably have to get this virus, many, many times for this type of herd immunity to truly emerge.
I had reviewed the data before. I’m type 1 diabetic, their information doesn’t specifically say what high risk groups were tested or how they have faired with the vaccine. Did they have problems with their blood sugars, did they have problems with insulin resistance, did they feel sick & have to take time off from work. I want data on people like me & how they did with the vaccine. What symptoms specifically for my group???
The trials grouped type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes together. The data that was published reported efficacy for the diabetes group, specifically. Though adverse events were reported in general (which of course include the participants with diabetes), I don't believe that was separated out and reported for each comorbidity. I think we'll find out more in the coming months.
I would encourage you to stop "the arguments from authority" . The link from The Journal of Nature and CDC data indicate an extremely low mortality rate from Covid for those younger than 60, let alone under 50 I read the same science journals as you (probably) and worked in the ICU for over a decade (albeit not during "official covid, although I believe it was present last Jan when I stopped working there given that we had so many "white out" pulmonary X-rays on our ventilated patients). However, I believe there is also a political component to this disease. If you are not worried about mandatory vaccines that's fine. However, I am and it is likely that even though I don't work in a hospital the Seattle based outpatient company will require them sooner rather than later.
Setting aside your apparent view that we shouldn't try and mitigate avoidable deaths in people over 50 years old, I don't agree that the number of deaths these mortality rates translate to are "extremely small".
If what you're suggesting is that we shouldn't take meaningful steps to reduce the number of deaths from Covid, ie let it spread freely even just through the under 50 population, then you're talking about just shy of 850,000 deaths in those under 50 years old, this includes about 65,000 small children. Not saying you are personally, but how is that view not sociopathic?
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
21 minutes ago, myoglobin said:
Also as stories like this https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/health/covid-pfizer-vaccine-allergic-reaction.html become more common in the coming weeks and months you will be lucky to get 25% of people to take the vaccine. If vaccine herd immunity is your strategy then you are in for a great deal of disappointment. It is going to take "exposure" herd immunity. Each of us will probably have to get this virus, many, many times for this type of herd immunity to truly emerge.
Are you implying that herd immunity from infection should be the US goal? It's a good thing that you aren't responsible for public health strategies and decisions, eh?
The risk of death from Covid decreases significantly with each decade of age. Kids are at almost no risk and people under 50 are based on CDC numbers have at least a 99.6 percent chance of survival. Of course we should mitigate risk through things like masks, however lockdowns pose a risk greater than the disease. Therefore I favor an approach more in line with the Barrington declaration that focuses on protecting the most vulnerable while the less vulnerable live their lives. I believe that this virus has enough variation that getting it once or twice does not confer complete immunity but does mitigate subsequent infection.
Specializes in Mental health, substance abuse, geriatrics, PCU.
Myoglobin, what I don't understand is that you work in psychiatry. Literature behind use of psychotropics isn't cut and dry, it's a world of gray. A lot of the data is contradictory, a lot of the studies are smaller, practitioners often practice based off of anecdotal experiences and evidence. You have no problem prescribing these medications that we don't fully understand and many have a side effect profile much less benign than what we know of this vaccine. Yet, the science behind infectious disease is a lot less gray, why do you have such a hard time accepting information we're learning about this virus, its spread, and the vaccine?
Also, herd immunity is the way almost all serious disease ends. The question is whether we get there through vaccination, infection or both. However since most people won’t take these vaccines it probably will not be that route.
Myoglobin, what I don't understand is that you work in psychiatry. Literature behind use of psychotropics isn't cut and dry, it's a world of gray. A lot of the data is contradictory, a lot of the studies are smaller, practitioners often practice based off of anecdotal experiences and evidence. You have no problem prescribing these medications that we don't fully understand and many have a side effect profile much less benign than what we know of this vaccine. Yet, the science behind infectious disease is a lot less gray, why do you have such a hard time accepting information we're learning about this virus, its spread, and the vaccine?
I focus on natural interventions exercise, morning sunlight, a healthy diet, music, natural interventions like SAMe and Saint John’s wort for depression. When these don’t work or the client prefers I will use SSRI’s. For some conditions like ADHD the stimulant medications gave a large evidence base for success with relatively minor side effects. However I always leave the choice of intervention up to the client and try to present options rather than prescriptions that are as evidence based as possible.
I thought herd immunity was a term coined with the advent of vaccines.
Herd immunity eventually occurs with almost any disease which is why for example small pox was so devastating to Native Americans relative to Europeans (many more Europeans had it, but few Native Americans did).However, in the case of vaccines we can also achieve herd immunity with less morbidity with around 90 percent of the populace being vaccinated depending mainly upon the r factor of the disease (how easy it spreads). There are times such as with the BCG vaccine for Tuberculosis that as a matter of public policy we have decided that testing is superior to vaccination.
Specializes in Mental health, substance abuse, geriatrics, PCU.
4 minutes ago, myoglobin said:
I focus on natural interventions exercise, morning sunlight, a healthy diet, music, natural interventions like SAMe and Saint John’s wort for depression. When these don’t work or the client prefers I will use SSRI’s. For some conditions like ADHD the stimulant medications gave a large evidence base for success with relatively minor side effects. However I always leave the choice of intervention up to the client and try to present options rather than prescriptions that are as evidence based as possible.
I see, I think it's great that you encourage adjunctive therapies in addition to pharmacological ones, a lot of providers forget about those things. But what about your patient with schizoaffective disorder that's in and of jail and the hospital who requires multiple antipsychotics and mood stabilizers many of which we have mainly theories on why/how/if they work and often times studies with mixed results. My point is that I just find it ironic that someone who seems to be so skeptical of information related to this virus that you would choose psychiatry to work in. I don't mean to offend you.
Herd immunity eventually occurs with almost any disease which is why for example small pox was so devastating to Native Americans relative to Europeans (many more Europeans had it, but few Native Americans did).However, in the case of vaccines we can also achieve herd immunity with less morbidity with around 90 percent of the populace being vaccinated depending mainly upon the r factor of the disease (how easy it spreads). There are times such as with the BCG vaccine for Tuberculosis that as a matter of public policy we have decided that testing is superior to vaccination.
Small pox was devastating to everyone, including Europeans. But because it had been seen before, it was not as lethal on a population scale, but I would not say Europeans achieved herd immunity to small pox! Herd immunity to small pox came with the vaccine, and is - barely - a rare example of a deadly virus that has been wiped out. Thanks to vaccines. Again, my question or my thought was that the term came about via the success of vaccines.
myoglobin, ASN, BSN, MSN
1,453 Posts
Also as stories like this https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/health/covid-pfizer-vaccine-allergic-reaction.html become more common in the coming weeks and months you will be lucky to get 25% of people to take the vaccine. If vaccine herd immunity is your strategy then you are in for a great deal of disappointment. It is going to take "exposure" herd immunity. Each of us will probably have to get this virus, many, many times for this type of herd immunity to truly emerge.