#1 - The entire dilemma is weighing the benefits and long term side effects of the vaccines and virus against each other. But to properly do so, you have to understand the benefits and long term side effects of each.
#2 - Covid - People focus too much on the overall death rate of Covid. They'll say things like, "There's no need to get a vaccine for something that has a 99+% survival rate." This is a poor way to think about this. Instead of focusing on the survival rate (unless you are elderly....more in a minute), the general populace should focus on the side effects. Many, many studies are indicating that 50% or greater of people that get Covid have significant long lasting cardiac inflammation......which may lead to permanent heart damage......but in a lot of cases certainly does. This occurs regardless of the severity of the symptoms when people have Covid. Now, could these studies be over projecting? Certainly, it's possible. But if the numbers are even fairly close that heart damage (to any degree) is occurring at a significant rate, then this alone might make getting a vaccine worth it. This is also leaving out other side effects like stroke, encephalitis, neurological disorders.......or other side effects. Covid has a hefty wake even though it has a low overall death rate.
Then there's the elderly. It is thought that >50% of Covid deaths are people >70-80 yrs old. And since many of the elderly already are at risk for cardiac and/or neurological pathologies, there are very few reasons why an older person should not get the vaccine.
#3 - Pfizer/Moderna - For starters, mRNA vaccines have been used before and for the most part have had little long term side effects. So the notion that it's new and unproven is relatively inaccurate. It does not change your DNA and they do not use fetal cells for development. The mRNA method of vaccines will likely become "the" method for all vaccines in the future......it's just a matter of time. It's extremely powerful and the uses are extremely impressive. Many have said that the mRNA method may eradicate certain forms of cancer in the future.
It is worth noting that NO CORNERS WERE CUT in the testing and research of the COVID vaccines. They all went through the same standards of testing that anything else has gone through. What was cut was the funding, development/production, red-tape. This is how things were released so quickly. So, the notion that these vaccines were rushed and not tested as much as regular things is incorrect. Also, they didn't have to reinvent the wheel. Corona virus family research and vaccine production has been going on for decades. All they had to do was develop it for the 19 strain.
Now, that being said, while we do know that the previous uses of mRNA vaccines/treatments haven't had too many long term negative side effects, we do not know for certain what the COVID-19 vaccine might do. It is likely to have minimal side effects....if any....but we can't know for certain right now.
#4 - J&J - They use the older method of vaccine production that does use fetal cells in it's development. Certainly negative long term effects have been noted, but they are generally very mild.
Now, this is where my opinion comes in.
-If you are very young....like teenage or less. Covid-19 has a much lower effect on you....and the likelihood of negative side effects is minimal. So, unless you are consistently around the older or feeble, I would NOT get the vaccine.
-If you are middle aged and/or have co-morbidities. This is where the choice gets mixed. Death from Covid "can" occur, but it's lower risk.....but the side effects can be nasty. If you are not around a lot of riskier folks, then I say you might choose not to get the vaccine. But if you weigh all aspects of the choices on a scale, I think it would indicate getting the vaccine for most people.
-For the older crowd......this should be a fairly easy choice. The vast majority should just get the vaccine. There are a few reasons not to.....but it's few.
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