AaronS wrote:Police, WA state patrol, firefighters, nurses... essential personnel dropping like flies in my state over their vaccine mandate.
Sad to watch people who put themselves at risk throughout the darkest hours of the pandemic get discarded this way.
I understand the emphasis being on the general health of the populous. I don't understand why more emphasis isn't being placed on finding out if Covid antibodies are present, or if some level of immunity has been developed. Especially among first responders who came in contact with Coronavirus on a daily basis.
The data I've seen shows that very few people are actually quitting their jobs or being fired due to vaccine mandates. Obviously I've only seen data from a few jurisdictions though (mostly New York and California), so that could be different where you are than say in New York where I am. The number of people quitting or being fired for refusing a vaccine is VERY low, except in certain police departments.
COVID antibodies being present isn't a great indicator of immunity. First, levels of antibodies vary WILDLY depending on whether you've just gotten sick, had one shot, two shots, three shots, or all of the above. For example, based on what I've seen from studies and reporting, the absolute best protection comes from a combination of having previously had COVID plus having had three doses (two regular and one booster) of Moderna's vaccine. Pfizer is not far behind, though their vaccine seems to decline in effectiveness with age more rapidly than Moderna. The lowest and least reliable protection comes from just getting sick. The least effective vaccine is Johnson and Johnson (at least in the US), though protection is MASSIVELY increased with a booster from an mRNA vaccine (especially Moderna) judging by recent studies on mixing and matching for booster shots. A J&J booster helps as well, but not nearly as much as an mRNA booster. As a J&J recipient myself, I'll very much be hoping to get a Moderna booster. They've consistently had the best and longest lasting protection in studies and they had the best results in mix and match studies when used as a booster for J&J.
Additionally, even if you've had COVID in the past, your ability to catch the virus goes down significantly once you've been vaccinated no matter how many antibodies you still have from infection. That, plus actual antibody testing, shows the number of antibodies produced by infection is dwarfed by the amount created by vaccination. Since essential workers are constantly around people, often vulnerable people, it is especially essential that they are vaccinated. Honestly, the fact that many have an issue with it is mind boggling to me, and I frankly wouldn't trust anyone who denies getting vaccinated to protect me. Police, firefighters, and especially medical workers are supposed to be keeping people safe and healthy, and when they are refusing to get vaccinated, they are actively putting the people they are supposed to protect at risk. That doesn't sit well with me.
But yeah... anyway, emphasis is not on antibody testing because vaccination creates a much higher level of protection than infection.
If you didn't want any of this information vomited out at you, my apologies. However, if you didn't know any of this, I felt it best to provide the info I know. I admittedly am not an epidemiologist, virologist, or immunologist, but I do follow all of the news and data that I can find.
By the way, once I get my booster, I'll gladly be this forum's guinea pig and let you all know how I feel after haha. I don't currently have it scheduled, but I will look to schedule it once the FDA officially approves mix and match booster shots.