Where do you go when you don't trust official data sources?

Nurses COVID

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Been engaged in alot of discussion under the COVID heading. Got me thinking. I find myself not trusting published data. There's so much politicization of everything. The government agencies are simply not independent and they are the source of most information. They want compliance. Period. Why wouldn't they change the data to fit? They certainly could and they have before. They constantly put out demands and conflicting information over and over again. Masks are BS. They don't protect anything. they stop a cough. GREAT! But they push masks like they are vital to life. People are wearing their masks while jogging in the woods. seriously? What the foxtrot!!? 

I hear all colors of reports about anecdotal stories of people being hurt by the vaccines. Those stories don't even exist as far as official sources are concerned. Do I risk the vaccine hurting me or COVID hurting me? Neither is a good option. COVID is a crap shoot. but taking the vaccine is a conscious choice. People come out of COVID without a problem. people take the vaccine without a problem. Both sides are valid in my mind. but now they are forcing the vaccine by law. This isn't a clear situation. It's very muddy. vaccinated still get infected but the narrative is the vaccine is totally safe, effective, and mandatory and will save the world. How do we know the vaccine isn't driving mutation? If I can't trust the source, how the hell can I make an informed decision? The drug companies have a massive profit motive to avoid any bad press. did they really disclose all their data?

Every single positive case is counted as a case. Are vaccine injuries treated the same? How many people harmed by the vaccine are taken into account? There's no way to know. Positive case: Always assume regardless of symptoms. Vaccine injury claim: PROVE IT WITH AN AUTOPSY!! IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE VACCINE!! ITS PROBABLY SOMETHING ELSE!! HERE'S A REFERRAL NOW GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!! (Yes I'm being hyperbolic). Its a double standard and there's no way we can get a clear picture with a double standard like that. This whole thing is a mess. 

Does anyone else feel like they have found an unbiased source of information that someone who doesn't trust CDC, FDA, government bodies can turn to to make an informed decision? I'm tired of all the fighting and politicization. I just want unbiased information. If you are like me, what did you do to get a clear picture of this mess and come to a conclusion about vax vs avoid? I'm seriously frustrated. I don't want to add to the problem. But I also don't want to get vaccination injury which can be just as bad as anything I can get from (yes liberals, vaccine injury happens. deal with it). Sigh....tired. I hope this makes sense. Does anyone else feel like this? I hope I'm not the only one. 

Specializes in ICU/ER.

I would suggest a look at what the term "Confirmation Bias" means and how we all apply it to our lives, opinions etc...

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On 9/1/2021 at 3:13 PM, toomuchbaloney said:

Mostly the points you are making are those forwarded by individuals questioning the need for vaccination.  

Ha I knew you would say that. I don't question the need for vaccination. A question was asked, I replied. I wasn't even taking about being against vaccines. You must have done bad in debate because you keep bringing up stuff I am not even saying and I feel like it just goes around in circles with you. 

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On 9/1/2021 at 3:14 PM, BostonFNP said:

You can still get covid as a breakthrough infection but it is much less common then if you have no immunity. What is hard to understand about that? About 90% percent of new cases are in unvaccinated individuals; consider that less than 50% of adult remain unvaccinated but still make up 90% of the cases. 

Sigh... I know this and I am not saying that. I was saying that they way the argued about why is was OK for for over 3,000 people to not be wearing mask and not be social distanced is they had the shot... which makes others think it is OK to be in large groups as long as you had the shot. And as we all know there are break thru cases even with the shot. My point was that was mis information given to the public... Hey it is OK to get over 3,00 people together no mask because hey we got the shot. That was the point  what is so hard about that? I wasn't even making the point you are arguing

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8 minutes ago, RKM2021 said:

Sigh... I know this and I am not saying that. I was saying that they way the argued about why is was OK for for over 3,000 people to not be wearing mask and not be social distanced is they had the shot... which makes others think it is OK to be in large groups as long as you had the shot. And as we all know there are break thru cases even with the shot. My point was that was mis information given to the public... Hey it is OK to get over 3,00 people together no mask because hey we got the shot. That was the point  what is so hard about that? I wasn't even making the point you are arguing

I was taking about the way they portrayed the reason why the party was OK to have that large of a crowd together. Period end of point. Not making a point that it was a spreader, not making a point against the vaccine.  I feel like I have to spell all that out for the slow folks who keep repeating stuff I am not even bringing up. 

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
On 8/26/2021 at 11:58 PM, 10GaugeNeedles said:

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yes liberals, vaccine injury happens. deal with it

This statement right there is a perfect illustration of the crux of the problem. It has become a partisan issue in the US, rather than a science/healthcare issue. In no other country in the world have people’s beliefs about Covid and the vaccine come down to where they align politically. I blame a lot of the news outlets as well as our previous administration. As others have suggested, read a wide cross-section of medical journals, other governments’ health information, etc.

P. S. Nobody is denying that vaccine injuries occur. But VAERS is NOT a reliable source of truth. Statistically speaking, the vaccine is OVERWHELMINGLY safe (over 5 BILLION doses given). Statistically speaking, you are far more likely to die or have longterm health effects from Covid than you are from the vaccine. And the vaccine works. Remarkably well. 

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Specializes in Customer service.

I would change the region of my computer and check countries like Singapore, Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, and other countries that aren't politically driven to make decisions for safety.

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Specializes in Customer service.

I use the data to compare with the US experts If there's a congruent and disconnection. 

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On 8/27/2021 at 6:30 PM, 10GaugeNeedles said:

I don't take VAERS as gospel but, at least if the CDC itself reports the numbers, one should be able to expect some level of credibility

I'm just going to point out you use the credibility of the CDC here when it bolsters your argument, while spending much of your initial post listing reasons you think it is not credible.  
This would matter if this whole post was a good faith argument instead of "just asking questions" concern trolling, but ah well.  

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
On 9/3/2021 at 10:54 AM, BeenThere2012 said:

Off topic, but in response to the quote:

I personally have become so used to wearing a mask that I have gotten into my car and forgot to take it off.

Someone I know who has severe allergies wears his mask outdoors because he found that his allergies effected him much less since he started wearing a mask and deduced that the mask helped reduce the allergens that caused his reactions.

During the Winter, I noticed a mask was actually more comfortable when walking through the cold to and from my car. I also noticed not getting the flu or a bad cold this year. I haven't actually checked, but I think the backs of my ears have gotten tougher, because I also sometimes forget I have it on.

To those asserting masks aren't useful, I say the same thing I said when, early on, the CDC didn't recommend them: BS. (I agreed with conserving the limited supply at the time for those who needed them most, but they should have just said that.)

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

I don't think it's coincidental that a lot of the voices against masks seem also to be against the vaccine.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
13 minutes ago, nursemike said:

I don't think it's coincidental that a lot of the voices against masks seem also to be against the vaccine.

Yep

The messaging that encourages resistance to both echo in the same places and have the same accents. 

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Too many nurses are intellectually lazy.  Day to day nursing doesn't require being able to rattle off how the Krebs cycle works, or how other detailed cellular biology works, so it is easily forgotten.  Go back and read your cellular biology, review immunity, review all of that, then read how the mRNA vaccines work.  Soon, you will understand why some of the vaccine myths are exactly that, a myth fairly easy to debunk with actual science and biology.  

Is it wrong to question safety? No, it is not, but it IS wrong to rely on non scientific sources to find the answers.  Cross reference information, it is not hard to find real reliable answers.  Also, remember we are watching real science deal with evolution in action.  

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