Lower Your Expectations, COVID-19 Vaccines Aren't a 'Cure-All'

I'm going to preface this post with the obvious, I'm not a medical expert. I have no experience with creating vaccines nor how they work. Everything that follows is based upon my own opinions and thoughts. Definitely do your own research on whether you want to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or not.

The following cut'n'paste message has been circulating on Facebook. At least that's where I first came across it. It's not attributed to anyone so it's not possible to draw any conclusions about the original poster's motivations or intent:

--- Post begins ---

Let’s awaken some people’s minds...

What happens if you decide to get "vaccinated" (beside the fact that you could end up very sick or even dead)???

Here are 12 important questions and answers before considering getting vaccinated:

• "If I get vaccinated can I stop wearing a mask(s)?"
  Government: "NO"
• "If I get vaccinated will the restaurants, bars, schools, fitness clubs, hair salons, etc. reopen and will people be able to get back to work like normal?
  Government: "NO"
• "If I get vaccinated will I be resistant to Covid?"
  Government: "Maybe. We don't know exactly, but probably not."
• "If I get vaccinated, at least I won't be contagious to others - right?"
  Government: "NO. the vaccine doesn’t stop transmission."
• "If I get vaccinated, how long will the vaccine last?"
  Government: "No one knows. All Covid "vaccines" are still in the experimental stage."
• "If I get vaccinated, can I stop social distancing?"
  Government: "NO"
• "If my parents, grandparents and myself all get vaccinated can we hug each other again?"
  Government: "NO"
• "So what's the benefit of getting vaccinated?"
  Government: "Hoping that the virus won't kill you."
• "Are you sure the vaccine won't injure or kill me?"
  Government: "NO"
• "If statistically the virus won't kill me (99.7% survival rate), why should I get vaccinated?"
  Government: "To protect others."
• "So if I get vaccinated, I can protect 100% of people I come in contact with?"
  Government: "NO"
• "If I experience a severe adverse reaction, long term effects (still unknown) or die from the vaccine will I (or my family) be compensated from the vaccine manufacture or the Government?"
  Government: "NO - the government and vaccine manufactures have 100% zero liability regarding this experimental drug"

So to summarize, the Covid19 "vaccine"...

• Does not provide immunity
• Does not eliminate the virus
• Does not prevent death
• Does not guarantee you won’t get it
• Does not stop you from passing it on to others
• Does not eliminate the need for travel bans
• Does not eliminate the need for business closures
• Does not eliminate the need for lockdowns
• Does not eliminate the need for masking

If after reading this you still decide to get the "vaccine"...GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!
Feel free to copy, paste and share...

--- End of post ---

On a surface level it sounds like it makes a lot of sense but it's actually reaching far beyond the limits of what a vaccine may achieve in the short term. i.e. All of the items summarized in the post are definitely goals that we hope a vaccine can bring about but it's ludicrous to think a vaccine will remove travel bans, eliminate business closures, lockdowns, and masking in the short term.

More reasonable is the idea that vaccines may provide immunity, will eliminate the virus, prevent death, guarantee you won't get it, and will stop you passing the virus to others but these are very high expectations for a vaccine that didn't even exist, and no one knew we needed, just over a year ago.

Anyway, I posted a response that I thought worthwhile sharing here. Again, I'm not a medical expert. This is just my opinion based on my limited knowledge and what those who should know about these things have been saying about COVID-19 vaccines.

Face Masks Matter,
Thank You for Wearing by TET.
Available from Redbubble.

--- My response post begins ---

Sounds like anti-vaxxer nonsense to me. We're all well aware these vaccines are experimental and have every right to be concerned about them but some of these questions are unrealistic in terms of what the overall goal of what mass vaccination is trying to achieve.

Realistically, short of actually making you immune to the virus (unlikely since the flu vaccine, as an analogy, doesn't make you immune to catching the flu), COVID vaccines will (potentially) make it harder for the virus to transmit between people who have been vaccinated. The harder it is for the virus to spread the more likely it will die out and disappear from the face of the planet sooner.

While getting vaccinated should always be a choice, either way you should continue to do everything else recommended to help stop the spread.

Thank the people who do choose to get vaccinated early. Their collective data will contribute greatly in refining vaccines to be less experimental and more effective.

So long as COVID is around you could get sick and die too, so, for sure ask questions about the vaccines but don't treat them like they're supposed to be a cure-all. It's just another line of defense that we're hoping will be more effective than what we currently have.

Keeping in mind that, in Australia at least, it takes just one pizza delivery driver who doesn't yet know they have the virus to send an entire state into lockdown... maybe a little more encouragement for vaccine research, trials, and people willing to be vaccinated wouldn't hurt.

--- End of response ---

For full disclosure I'm choosing not to vaccinate early, and I am hoping vaccination will always be a choice. 

I generally spend most of my time not in contact with anyone outside of my immediate family (i.e. those who don't live in my house), and I am doing everything else required to stop the spread. To the best of my knowledge I haven't had the virus and no clusters have sprung up in my immediate community of people who have been in contact with me.

I'm not against vaccination and would certainly consider getting it early if I was working in a high risk environment. If you do decide to get vaccinated early then, thank you. I respect and appreciate your decision, and hope the experience is positive and effective.