The article doesn't say whether there's a medical exception. Not everyone can get the vaccine; having that cost your job is both heartless and (probably) illegal.
We seem to be focused on measuring output rather than outcomes. Other countries are giving recovered people the same status as the vaccinated since they have the antibodies. But I guess that makes too much sense...
Like, between a 100-200$ blood test to prove natural immunity* vs. a free vaccine, it should make sense to get the vaccine.
* IMO, honor system should be de-emphasized for people claiming natural immunity. If they want to fight on this hill, they should be able to prove they have that immunity in the first place, otherwise it's simply inconsiderate.
The antibody test is about $45 from places like Labcorp. The vaccine is $40 per dose (so $80 total for most), with the government picking up the tab.
Yes, vaccination plus infection provides more antibodies. I'm not sure that it is correct to quantify that as "10x more resistance" as we would need to know where the threshold for resistance lies and all the factors involved (they don't know the min effective level of antibodies, and they are seeing protection in individuals before the antibodies are being produced).
"You don't lose anything by getting the vaccine..."
There are some people with valid concerns about the possiblity of autoimmune antibodies, which in theory, could be substantially higher if having already been infected. Sadly, I haven't been able to find any real research into this one way or the other.
"... they should be able to prove they have that immunity in the first place, ..."
Yes, other governments such as Isreal are issuing green passes for those confirmed to have recovered. I don't believe they are doing antibody testing, but we aren't testing vaccine recipients for antibodies either.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s0806-vaccination-pr...
Everyone (who can) should take the covid vaccine, regardless of their antibody status.
>A talking point, often used in the plural, is a pre-established message or formula used in the field of political communication, sales and commercial or advertising communication.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_point
Let me ask you this: is "Everyone (who can) should take the vaccine" a message that medical organizations are communicating with minimal variance?
I'm not an English major here. Just trying to get my point across.
It seems more likely that nurses and aids can't interprete dense medicalese or understand mRNA any better than the average person and are no less susceptible to misinformation than the average person. That doesn't make them incompetent at their jobs, which aren't about creating complex treatment plans using the latest and greatest medical research, but finding veins, delivering meds, scrubbing sores, changing bed pans etc.
96% of doctors have gotten the vaccine. Top medical researchers in the immunology recommend the vaccine. etc. etc. These people are less (but not completely) susceptible to misinformation because they are truly able to interpret research and findings.
We should be following doctors and immunology medical researchers. Not nurses.
(This isn't meant to be an inherent slight on nurses, by the way. I think it's just human nature.)
Another important thing to note is that there could be bias in that group. If you dedicate your life to medicine, you may be more likely to trust medicine without questioning it. Unless you've had an experience that was negative. Many physicians that have had negative personal experiences abide by the idea that new means unproven (which matches the reason that most unvaccinated doctors gave in the survey and the CDC lists - that the longterm risks are unknown).
Lastly, most doctors are to mechanics as medical researchers are engineers. Most doctors aren't looking up studies on PubMed or doing research. They mostly rely on what they've been taught in school and in continuing education. For the most part they are following established protocols. Hell, even the experts admit that there is a lot they don't know about the immune system. Take for example that researchers are seeing protection from the vaccine before antibodies are produced - which was unexpected.
So while most groups are susceptible to misinformation, that doesn't invalidate the position that one may avoid the vaccine due to the unkmown longterm affects. It's really a question of risk/benefit analysis in a sea of incomplete information.
At the end of the day, doctors and medical researchers are producing the highest quality opinions on the subject. If you're not following their lead, then you are very likely in the wrong.
Are they sometimes wrong? Absolutely. But the key point: to think that you are more likely to be correct is absurd.
And, cynically, I see an amazing amount of selfishness around Covid.
One side won't wear masks because it impinges their freedom, and they'd rather have their freedom than not have vulnerable people die.
The other side wants to get everyone to do what they're supposed to do so that they (the ones demanding that others do what they should) can get back to living like they want, and never mind if they run over others' freedom or limitations on governmental authority or whatever. (Yes, I know, the second group is also concerned about the vulnerable. But it seems to me that at least some of the outrage comes from "Things should go the way I want them to, and it's unacceptable that the actions of others take that away from me.")
Doctors gaslight me when I had an allergic reaction to Macrogol, claiming it was an anxiety attack while I could visibly feel myself suffocating to death. Did anyone bother to add it to my EHR? No.
Did anyone even add the allergies after I used the online portal to send a message to PAMF? No. Still in pending.
I keep on trying but somehow I keep getting doctors who don’t care or shift me from specialist to specialist since I’m apparently a case nobody wants to take.
I’m so tired of hearing ‘it’s safe and effective’ sometimes.
Should I go and get a shot that has a good chance of a giving me a life threatening reaction that may be fatal? (Oh and before you mention epinephrine, that’s also contraindicated; I have no faith that if it happens again, I’ll even end up alive considering I was left to just kind of suffer while nearly dying in the hospital ER not just once, but TWICE in the last few years).
I give up. I admit defeat.