Just not enough evidence to get me hyped up to get a rushed-to-market vaccine injected into my healthy body.
My family had Covid in early March. My wife, 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son all tested positive. I tested negative. The worst symptom anyone had was a slight fever of 100.9 and a sore throat. Those symptoms lasted for 24 hours. We still quarantined for 10 days, after which time we all went and got tested again. My wife and daughter tested positive... my son and I tested negative. I never actually tested positive at all while my wife and daughter continued to test positive for weeks.
I never even had runny nose. They never had anything worse than a sore throat. A regular head cold had worse symptoms. Your response is going to be "... well there are variant strains that could be much worse for you, and the vaccine can lessen the severity..." at which I will respond "... you are correct, just like with the flu or a regular coronavirus, there are many types of variants... all of which my body is fully capable of dealing with on its own thanks to my amazing immune system, which has been doing its job since 1982."
(*SIDE NOTE* - I realize that there are millions of people who were not as fortunate as my family and I were... and experienced catastrophic symptoms. I do not mean to diminish those people. There is no doubt the virus is a real thing that millions have struggled with. By the Grace of God, me and my family weren't among those. We are fortunate... but in my mind that still does not warrant injecting a foreign substance into our bodies.)
Again... the vaccine IS NOT A CURE. Cannot prevent us from catching the virus or spreading the virus... only "reduce the likelihood and severity". The severity of Covid was next to nothing for us when we had it... so why risk any kind of potential side effect or reaction to a vaccine that we don't need in order to live? My risk to side effects or negative reactions to the vaccine outweigh the risk of getting a severe case of Covid... so as you stated above, I am making a sound decision. (hint, I am.)
My elder parents, who are at risk based on age and medical history, received the vaccine. My in-laws received the vaccine as well. Anyone we know that is at higher risk or have medical conditions that may be compromised by Covid have received the vaccine. They all made the decision that they felt was best for their lives... they exercised their freedom to choose along with their basic civil liberties as Americans to pursue life, liberty and happiness.
I feel, based on my personal experiences and independent research, that I am doing the same. Those who feel they should get the vaccine to protect themselves should absolutely do so. Those who feel they do not need to get the vaccine should be allowed to make that private, medical decision for themselves.
