Quick thoughts on vaccines, science, and policy before my annual Flu shot

Still deciding if I will get this year’s Covid shot…

I’m about to get my annual Flu shot and may also get the updated Covid vaccine. Some quick thought.

1. Both extremes can be wrong
   Just because Fauci and extreme PRO-vaxxers are limited/incorrect does NOT mean the anti-Fauci and extreme anti-vaxxers are correct, and vice versa. They can BOTH be wrong or at least limited.
2. Science vs. science-derived policy
   Science is different from public policy derived from or informed by Science, which is not Science itself, but rather a reflection of non-scientific issues like political ideology or values such as freedom. There’s an optimization between scientific issues and safety vs. non-scientific issues like freedom or economic growth, and there is no clear cut answer. At the very least, proponents of either side should admit that there’s some uncertainty.
3. True harm of Fauci and extreme pro-vaxxers
   Fauci and extreme pro-vaxxers may have caused greater harm long term in many ways, due to public distrust in Science in general and vaccines in particular.
4. Vaccines are miraculous
   Personally, I believe they’re the greatest modern biotechnological invention ever. The problem is that evidence they work is when you see absolutely nothing in close to 100% of the cases. And when they fail or cause harm ~0% of the time, you can see it very clearly. Vaccines do have some failure or harm rate, just that it’s vastly outweighed by the benefits. We don’t avoid crossing the street or avoid eating just because people can and do get killed, respectively by cars or some foods.
5. Transmission vs. mitigation
   There’s a distinction between vaccines to stop disease transmission vs. vaccines to mitigate the severity of disease. It’s possible that
6. Vaccine hesitancy is OK, but why not apply that same thinking elsewhere?
   Vaccine hesitancy and skepticism is 100% OK, and even healthy. But why then is there no equal hesitancy or skepticism for all the other treatments or interventions as well? Treatments that may not have been studied nearly as much?
7. Fear of needles
   Much of vaccine fears may just be fear of needles, with all sorts of other rationales that goes around this issue. I admit that I personally feel very anxious around needles bordering on terror. But I force myself to get shots since my emotions or first reactions should not hold a monopoly on smart choices.
8. mRNA vaccines and other diseases
   The true benefit long term of acceleration of the science/tech of mRNA vaccines may be for other diseases such as Cancer.