Mar 22, 2021 I will tell the story of what happened to my girlfriend, gather round. She got her first dose of the pfizer vax in early January, was mostly fine. Just a sore arm. Second dose about 4 weeks later and later the same day started to get terrible flu-like symptoms. Had excruciating headaches every day for about 3-4 weeks after, and quickly developed a bad chest/breathing issue. Even though this all started the literal day she got the vax, no doctor or specialist she saw would even acknowledge the idea that it was related which is one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever witnessed in the medical industry. She ended up having to go on steroids and anti-biotics for weeks because they had no idea what was wrong with her chest. Also had to see heart and lung specialists. She is mostly better now luckily but it was a pretty horrific ordeal. I realize it’s rare but it was terrifying seeing doctors act confused and pretend nothing could be related to the vax.
Mar 22, 2021 Professor Paul Elliott, director of the programme at Imperial, called the REACT results "encouraging", saying they showed that "lockdown measures are effectively bringing infections down". He added: "It's reassuring that the reduction in numbers of infections occurred in all ages and in most regions across the country." This uniform decrease in age groups means that there is no evidence that the vaccination programme is behind the fall in infections. If that was the case, the researchers said, they would expect to see a bigger drop among people aged 65 and over. https://apple.news/ABd1jaJlPRk-myOnAJG3lTw
Mar 22, 2021 Just got dose 1 of the vaccine! Getting the 2nd dose in 3 weeks, no side effects for me so far.
Mar 22, 2021 Ok man but reading one article and one person's opinion doesn't make it fact. The raw numbers are there for anyone to see, use that to make up your own mind.
Mar 24, 2021 okay but you also realize doctors can’t just make determinations without substance to back it up. It’s correlation vs causation. Ice cream sales & murders both go up in the summer, that doesn’t mean one causes the other. It’s the same with your girlfriend: if the side effects she was experiencing were unique to her & no one really else who received the vaccine in that facility, they can’t attribute it to the vaccine. That would just be malpractice. it’s not really an argument whether vaccines are reducing transmission though. You’re seeing this in Israel, United States etc. there’s no reason to believe why the U.K. would be different. Obviously other factors such as lockdowns contribute to the decline in transmission but that’s been constant for the past year. It could be that at the time of the study, the UK hadn’t vaccinated a significant percentage of the population to make much of an impact yet. Today would likely be a different story.
Mar 24, 2021 Lockdowns haven’t been constant at all here. This is the most extreme & longest period we’ve had since the start of the pandemic & a large number of experts, mostly scientists are coming out & saying this lockdown is the biggest player in the reduction of cases, not the vaccination rollout. I posted an article from a mainstream network as evidence & it’s been changed to a “just because 1 person said it doesn’t mean it’s true” argument which is silly (& untrue.) Each country has individual restrictions & socioeconomic factors to account for & we’d do best to examine them on a case to case basis instead of lumping them together in the discussions. Another example is the fact our major vaccine rollout is AstraZeneca which has a considerably lower efficacy rate on the 1st jab than its mRNA counterparts & our country is waiting 3 months on average till the 2nd jab (full vaccination) which means over 95% of the population aren’t fully vaccinated yet neither.
Mar 25, 2021 Well, that’s kind of what I’m getting at with your 2nd paragraph. There could be other underlying reasons as to why the vaccine hasn’t made as much of an impact in the U.K. vs elsewhere. That’s not necessarily an indicator that eventually, when the U.K. ramps up it’s vaccination process, transmission won’t decrease as we’ve observed elsewhere. I don’t think there’s anything unique about the U.K. population that would prevent them from reaching herd immunity. Right now, maybe lockdowns are primarily driving declining COVID cases but if you want those numbers to continue to decline/stay down, you need to vaccinate the general public. My overall point is still valid! Just used an extreme example to make it.
Mar 25, 2021 My friend had something similar happen—her symptoms kept getting worse and she could barely even swallow water cuz her throat/tonsils were so swollen. She ended up going to the emergency room for an IV and antibiotics and steroids and it turned out she had strep throat in addition to the symptoms that many people report after the second dose. Like you said it's rare but it can still happen—she says she doesn't regret getting the vaccine. Just make sure you get checked out if you don't feel better after a few days or feel like you're getting significantly worse.
Mar 25, 2021 That being said, I believe all adults are eligible to get a vaccine in GA as of today so I'm gonna try to figure out how to actually get one lol.
Mar 25, 2021 That's messed up man , glad she's doing better. Also @Enigma ur right, if there's no proof or other examples where the same thing happens, its hard to say 100% the vaccine caused it but ice creams and murders is a bad comparison bro lol. Like, getting these symptons right after, without proof, still makes it a pretty big chance it caused it. It could be a reaction from the body so we dont need to 'blame' the vaccine entirely, but comparing it to murders and ice creams is kinda weird man lol. Also, yeah kinda embarrassed Europe is so slow w vaccination and we're still in heavy lockdowns smh
Mar 25, 2021 I brought up the ice cream/murders comparison to demonstrate the difference between causation vs correlation. In a vacuum, having extreme symptoms after a vaccine doesn’t indicate nor provide strong proof it was the vaccine that caused said symptoms. It could simply be a correlation (like the ice cream/murders example). Especially considering she was fine after the 1st dose like MIC said. Medical professionals strive for accuracy in these situations. They can’t jump the horse & make assumptions (even if they seem logical) because it could put the greater public in danger.
Mar 25, 2021 To be fair, I did learn about that ice cream, murder rate scenario in college. Definitely worth that $150k tuition I paid just to learn that
Mar 25, 2021 Oh yeah thats why I said I agreed w your point. You cant make assumptions even if it would make sense. But it was kind of a far fetched comparison lol
Mar 26, 2021 Cases have started to rise in Scotland & some regions of England as lockdown eases, this is going to increase further. 1st vaccine isn’t helping this. That’s why bumbling Boris is now touting that a 3rd wave in the UK is “inevitable”
Mar 26, 2021 Yeah mate it’s not looking good. Late-stage Capitalism has really been dragging its knuckles through this crisis, the incompetence of top-down power is on display more than ever. Problem is a lot of people don’t know where to point the blame because they want their social liberties back at the same time. We’ve got people calling out Tory negligence for excess deaths whilst demanding lockdown be lifted, doesn’t make sense lol It feels like we’re in a cycle with no ending in sight.
