Wife and I are scheduled to get the first round of The Pfizer vaccine tomorrow. Will update with how it goes.

At this point my entire family has been vaccinated. All Pfizer, age range from 24-85. First shot was totally symptom free for all. Second shot, just minor side effects, low grade fever (99.5) the following day for about 24 hours along with a slightly sore arm at the injection sight. I've always been a believer in vaccinations, was happy to be able to get a spot in line to get mine and am really glad I did.

But there's another funny side effect of the vaccine that I've observed in a few people, most notably my elderly dad. I've not seen my parents in a year because of CV19 and my moms compromised immune system, but I've been checking in with them regularly. My dad constantly sounded beat down and mentally exhausted from dealing with the stress of taking care of my mom and all of the COVID nonsense. Talking to him after his shot, he's a different man. He just sounds so much more enthusiastic about life, taking care of my mom and doing things around the house again. That's been the best side effect of all for me.

The Wall Street Journal
=======================

Many Russians Say No to Getting Vaccine

Residents have hefty dose of skepticism as Covid-19 rages, even as Sputnik V sells abroad

BY GEORGI KANTCHEV

MOSCOW—Last summer, Russia was the first nation to announce its approval of a Covid-19 vaccine. Dozens of countries from Mexico to Iran have since ordered millions of doses of the shot, known as Sputnik V.

But at home, Russia’s vaccination campaign has sputtered in the midst of one of the world’s highest levels of vaccine hesitancy. While the vaccine is free and widely available, only 3.5% of Russians have received at least one shot, compared with 32.1% in the U.K., according to Our World in Data, a project based at Oxford University that tracks the global vaccine rollout. In the U.S., it’s about 18%. Recent surveys show that less than a third of Russians are willing to get the Sputnik V vaccine.

Behind the skepticism are lingering doubts about Sputnik V’s rapid development and an ingrained distrust of authority stemming from the country’s Soviet past. Polls show many Russians believe the coronavirus is a man-made biological weapon. At the same time, surveys indicate a strong current of Covid-19 disbelief in Russia.

While coronavirus infections in Russia have been falling, the slow acceptance of the vaccine leaves the country vulnerable to a new surge. Russia has had more than four million infections, the fourth-highest in the world. Vaccine hesitancy risks undermining the government’s goal of inoculating around 60% of the population by summer.

“We were on par with everybody else in developing the vaccine, but we’re now behind in administering it,” said Anton Gopka, dean of faculty of technological management and innovations at St. Petersburg’s ITMO University and general partner of healthcare investment firm ATEM Capital. “In the end, the big risk is that it will prolong the pandemic here.”

The challenges of rolling the shot out across Russia’s vast land mass in the midst of harsh winter conditions have also hampered the campaign. On Thursday, Mr. Putin said nine of Russia’s 85 regions hadn’t begun vaccinating.

The Sputnik V shot has faced challenges from the start. It was approved in August, just a few months after development started and before large-scale clinical trials were conducted. Then, as Russia began to roll it out in December, production problems meant the country could deliver only a fraction of the doses that officials had initially promised.

A peer-reviewed study, published in February in the Lancet, a British medical journal, showed the vaccine was 91.6% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and had no serious side effects. Russian drug manufacturers, meanwhile, have recently stepped up production. Indeed, some analysts expect a glut of vaccines if demand doesn’t pick up.

Abroad, Russia has conducted a public-relations campaign, including posting video updates in English and maintaining a Twitter account for Sputnik V. U.S. officials say Russian intelligence agencies have mounted a campaign to undermine confidence in Pfizer Inc.’s and other Western vaccines, using online publications that in recent months have questioned the vaccines’ development and safety. The Kremlin denies these allegations.

More than 40 other countries have authorized Sputnik V for emergency use. European Union members Slovakia and Hungary have approved Sputnik V and on Thursday the bloc’s medicines regulator began a formal assessment that could lead to an authorization of the shot.

Many Russians remain unconvinced. A survey released by the independent pollster Levada Center this week showed that only 30% of Russians are willing to get a Sputnik V shot, down from 38% in December, with many citing concern over possible side effects and doubts about the clinical trials.

“The vaccine has not been fully tested yet and [the mass vaccination campaign] is in fact a trial being carried out en masse on the residents of Russia without their knowledge,” said Tatyana Andreyeva, a 39-year-old human-resources director from Kaliningrad. She said she won’t get inoculated.

Ms. Andreyeva’s 10-year-old son got sick with Covid-19 in October but recovered quickly without infecting the rest of the family. “I do not consider Covid to be a serious and highly contagious disease,” she said.

Globally, Russians rank among the biggest vaccine skeptics. An Ipsos survey released in February showed that 42% of Russians would get a vaccine, compared with 71% in the U.S. and 57% in France.

Besides doubts about Sputnik V itself, some analysts cite a general lack of trust in authorities and the health system. Just 37% of Russians are satisfied with the quality of their healthcare system, compared with a global average of 65%, according to a 2019 Gallup poll.

—Valentina Ochirova contributed to this article.

LINK

I decided to reset the poll and change the topic title to reflect what it has evolved to. Below is the revised first post of this thread for those who understandably won’t notice that something started nearly three months and 39 pages ago has changed.
-----------

This original purpose of the “Will you take it” poll has pretty much run its course. I therefore decided to change the title of the topic in hopes of continuing the discussion that it has evolved to: Why you did or didn’t if you’ve had the opportunity, in addition to why you will or won’t if you haven’t. The discussions of what side effects people are experiencing after being vaccinated are informative as well.

Editing a poll post resets the responses, so if anyone wonders what the replies were before the reset, a total of 406 votes had been cast with 195 (48%) yes, and 211 (52%) no. Those percentages have remained relatively constant for a long time. There was an initial surge of no votes when the question was whether one would take the vaccine nearly three months ago. The yes votes have gained markedly since then, but additional information has accumulated and general attitudes have changed, and therefore whatever validity this sort of poll with its prior self-selected responses may have had at one time has faded to insignificance.

I am still interested in discussions about the vaccinations themselves and people’s attitudes at this point. Again, however, please keep the discussion civil. “I do not believe there has been adequate testing of the vaccines” is rational and useful; “Only brain-washed fools are taking these shots” is irrational and inflammatory.

Thanks for all the discussion thus far.

Finally eligible in Ohio and we can’t get any.


Our fire department got theirs awhile ago and half didn’t take it and didn’t bother to offer it to us.

I would vote no, but I likely will be required to whenever it is available to peons for job reasons.

I'm not really against the vaccine, but I don't feel like I NEED to take it. I've gone about my life as normally as I can slide by without the sky falling. In our rural area, it really hasn't been a big deal & I'd say we've been almost back to normal since before thanksgiving* & no major spike/meltdowns. That says a lot about the efficacy of the mandated 'protection' put in place by some governments.

*we still have mask 'mandate' & restaurants/bars just got the OK to go to 100% in the last 2ish weeks. We basically told the governor to fuck off when he made the mask mandate, then re-elected him in a landslide.

Both my wife and I had Covid at the end of December and it was minimally inconvenient.
Due to the nature of our work (part time for me) we were eligible for the vaccine and had our first Moderna shot last week. We both had a sore arm but that’s it. Our second shot will be at the end of the month.

I am so ready to try to get back to normal that I am willing to do just about anything to get there. Time will tell.

I'm willing to bet that the Government(s) will use vaccination as a basis for restoration of freedoms.

Basically I think they'll let those vaccinated run around unmasked and not social distancing and the others will still be stuck. I also think Airlines will use it as a prerequisite for boarding their aircraft and some countries and States will use it as a condition of not doing a quarantine.

I could be wrong, though.

^^^^^^

My first shot caused only minor discomfort at the injection site the next day. The second shot hit me with flu like symptoms for about 18 hours. If they told me I needed to take another shot every year I'd do it. I'd just schedule it for a Friday.

I didn't take the shot to protect me, I took the shot to hopefully help break the chain of transmission and in turn protect more vulnerable people. Plus I'd really like businesses and the economy to be able to reopen at some point.

Wife and I just got our second dose of Pfizer this morning. First dose was a non-event, just a sore arm for a day or so.

Verdict still out on this second dose. Our hospital appeared to have guys there from the military doling out some of the shots. Haircuts and ARMY on the t-Shirt was a dead giveaway!LOL

quote:

My first shot caused only minor discomfort at the injection site the next day. The second shot hit me with flu like symptoms for about 18 hours. If they told me I needed to take another shot every year I'd do it. I'd just schedule it for a Friday.

I didn't take the shot to protect me, I took the shot to hopefully help break the chain of transmission and in turn protect more vulnerable people. Plus I'd really like businesses and the economy to be able to reopen at some point.

We're so glad to hear that your kool-aid taste's so good that you are willing to drink it non-stop for the greater good. It is obvious you are so proud of your accomplishment. And so are your master's. I hope the slap (shove) in the back did not did not cause a bruise.

And anyone that say's they are doing for me (someone else). I do not need you or anyone else to do anything for my benefit regarding this deal.

If you choose to do for yourself, great.

quote:

Plus I'd really like businesses and the economy to be able to reopen at some point.

That's a people problem, not a virus problem. Getting rid of a virus will not stop the people from wanting control. They'll simply move on to the next method of restricting your rights.

I personally would like to find a doctor sign off they injected me without actually doing it. If it becomes a requirement to have a vaccination to travel, I will be looking deeper into the fake vaccine option. I don't want it.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

Again, however, please keep the discussion civil. “I do not believe there has been adequate testing of the vaccines” is rational and useful; “Only brain-washed fools are taking these shots” is irrational and inflammatory.

I feel like maybe we need to keep repeating this.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
I am so ready to try to get back to normal that I am willing to do just about anything to get there. Time will tell.

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:
My first shot caused only minor discomfort at the injection site the next day. The second shot hit me with flu like symptoms for about 18 hours. If they told me I needed to take another shot every year I'd do it. I'd just schedule it for a Friday.

I didn't take the shot to protect me, I took the shot to hopefully help break the chain of transmission and in turn protect more vulnerable people. Plus I'd really like businesses and the economy to be able to reopen at some point.

These comments are SO welcomed by the Self-Appointed Masters in the .gov that want to Control YOU, and Take Away YOUR Liberties, Trample on the US Constitution, AND Eliminate the Bill of Rights! It seems they're relentless efforts to gain ground and do so are having an effect! And rest assured, they'll keep going as long as WE continue let them!

Soon we'll be heading down the road to 'Papers Please' territory!

quote:

Originally posted by Aquilon:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

Again, however, please keep the discussion civil. “I do not believe there has been adequate testing of the vaccines” is rational and useful; “Only brain-washed fools are taking these shots” is irrational and inflammatory.

I feel like maybe we need to keep repeating this.

That is obviously a worthless effort.

Because some people are incapable of understanding and complying with such a simple and obvious request either due to wilful stupidity and/or because they simply believe that they have a right to express their venomous opinions about others over and over, I will request that the thread be locked.
They can continue to drop their turds in the other thread, and I have no doubt that they will.

quote:

I personally would like to find a doctor sign off they injected me without actually doing it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Fat chance. You could call RFK JR. though.

I wish the poll had an “I don’t know” option. I’ve got my name on a list to get one, but I don’t know if I’m going to do it. I read pages 24 through 39 of this thread and that didn’t help at all.