Wait, that doesn't sound quite right: the benefit of taking the vaccine goes not only to you, it's also to the people you would have otherwise infected by spreading the virus yourself.
There's been jumbled messaging on this.
The "you still need to wear a mask" thing was, if you dig in on the actual statements instead of the media headlines, "because we don't know yet". An abundance of caution.
Since then, we've gotten quite a bit of good data on that front.
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-israel-va...
> Data analysis in a study by the Israeli Health Ministry and Pfizer Inc found the Pfizer vaccine developed with Germany’s BioNTech reduces infection, including in asymptomatic cases, by 89.4% and in syptomatic cases by 93.7%.
I think it's the wrong call, though, as we saw with masks.
I do not believe the government response has been exceptionally data-driven throughout this whole mess.
There'll be new guidance issued if it pans out.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/dr-fauci-explains-why-...
> "It may be that we will show that if the level of virus in your nasopharynx because you're vaccinated is so low that you don't have to worry about transmitting, that's going to be a game changer for what a vaccinated person can or cannot do," Fauci said.
> The doctor explained that if the findings are corroborated, Americans will likely see a pulling back on some restrictions, but emphasized "we're not there yet."
Note that other vaccine's that prevent infection also reduce your risk of spreading the disease (measles etc).
So the fact that COVID spreads (not just in rare cases, but enough we all have to remain masked AND socially distant even if vaccinated) is a CRAZY big difference here.
The messaging has been clear - even if vaccinated you MUST wear masks and socially distance - which shows how different this is then other viruses. Given that, it's understandable that people are a bit more meh on the vaccines - because you can still spread it to others either way.
I do wonder about the experts messaging at times. Initially I thought airbone virus, began wearing my leftover N95's from wildfire season. Then they said those don't stop this airborne virus and to take them off. Then they said put them back on. and on it goes.
That's been the media summary of it, but Fauci and others have been pretty clear in their actual statements on this to say "for now", not "forever".
It's highly likely that natural infection provides worse protection that vaccination and we have real world evidence that already suggests this.
1. Two exposures to the spike protein are likely to create a much better long term immune response simply because of multiple exposures in a short period of time.
2. The spike protein produced by the mRNA and J&J vaccines is engineered to produce better response against variants.
3. We've already seen evidence of natural infection performing poorly in rural parts of Brazil with very high initial infection rates (> 70% which is near the herd immunity threshold) like Manaus where we're seeing significant evidence of reinfection where it should be have been difficult for COVID to spread.
2. A vaccine producing (IIRC) two orders of magnitude more antibodies than natural immunity is not necessarily a good thing.
Everyone else is doing the same thing you are, thus the community is giving you the same thing you're giving to the community.