By way of a followup, when in the history of the practice of medicine has anyone been told that they needed to be vaccinated against a disease that they had just recovered from?
I don't know how old you are, but maybe you remember the MMR rollout in the 60s/70s? Was there much effort made to avoid innoculating patients who had survived a case of measles? I don't know that history, but in my own experience it often seems to turn out cheaper to just get a jab than to test for whether you need it first.
No, jez, I didn't ask whether people were told that a post disease was harmless. I asked when was anyone told that they NEEDED to be vaccinated, that they were endangering their own lives and the lives of others if they did not get vaccinated.
I understand the distinction you're making. Have you considered the complexity it would add to the public messaging to incorporate this distinction into it? "Get the vaccine" vs "Get the vaccine, unless you've already recovered from the virus. Did you have covid, or a bad cold? Here's a testing protocol..." etc. How much benefit does that complexity deliver? Is it worth the cost in effort plus the inevitabe bungling of a certain proportion of cases?
Jez, if the citizens of this nation cannot cope with the "complexity" of "Get the vaccine unless you have had Covid," then there is no point in trying to preserve this society.
A lot of people kind of reckon they probably had it, though. It's not a stupidity issue (although there is that too, and plenty of otherwise blameless individuals live next to idiots, so let's not overlook those cases), it's a real grey area. If your suggested advice were the official line, the people would come back with tons of questions. (See what happened on the UK when they said you can go to the pub but only if you ordered a "substantial meal"... ministers were bombarded with questions about scotch eggs for weeks.)
I'm not defending anything, plenty of what our governments are doing actually doesn't make sense. I'm helping you find a way to be less confused about the bits that do.
I don't know how old you are, but maybe you remember the MMR rollout in the 60s/70s? Was there much effort made to avoid innoculating patients who had survived a case of measles? I don't know that history, but in my own experience it often seems to turn out cheaper to just get a jab than to test for whether you need it first.
ReplyDeleteNo, jez, I didn't ask whether people were told that a post disease was harmless. I asked when was anyone told that they NEEDED to be vaccinated, that they were endangering their own lives and the lives of others if they did not get vaccinated.
ReplyDeleteI understand the distinction you're making. Have you considered the complexity it would add to the public messaging to incorporate this distinction into it? "Get the vaccine" vs "Get the vaccine, unless you've already recovered from the virus. Did you have covid, or a bad cold? Here's a testing protocol..." etc. How much benefit does that complexity deliver? Is it worth the cost in effort plus the inevitabe bungling of a certain proportion of cases?
ReplyDeleteJez, if the citizens of this nation cannot cope with the "complexity" of "Get the vaccine unless you have had Covid," then there is no point in trying to preserve this society.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people kind of reckon they probably had it, though. It's not a stupidity issue (although there is that too, and plenty of otherwise blameless individuals live next to idiots, so let's not overlook those cases), it's a real grey area. If your suggested advice were the official line, the people would come back with tons of questions. (See what happened on the UK when they said you can go to the pub but only if you ordered a "substantial meal"... ministers were bombarded with questions about scotch eggs for weeks.)
ReplyDeleteKeep trying to defend your indefensible position, jez. I didn't say "if you THINK you had Civid." I said "a disease that you had just recovered from."
ReplyDeleteI'm not defending anything, plenty of what our governments are doing actually doesn't make sense. I'm helping you find a way to be less confused about the bits that do.
ReplyDelete