My parents have definitely been scared by the “pandemic” and are super excited that they are able to get the vaccine next month.
Predictably, the question becomes, “when are you going to get the vaccine shot?” I’ve told them about my concerns with the vaccine back in November, and they seemed to agree back then, but it appears the COVID panic has grown into paranoia for them since then. I live in another state for a job, so I have told them that “I’m young so they aren’t giving vaccines out to my demographic yet,” though that excuse isn’t going to last. Honestly, we’ve been planning for me to visit them, and now it seems as though they are at the point where they won’t want me to visit unless I am vaccinated like them.
I’m standing my ground on my refusal to take the vaccine, as the risk outweighs the benefits in my opinion, but I think that my refusal will be the turning point of my relationship with my parents. It’s absurd to think that not taking a vaccine for a disease with a 99% survival rate would be what causes my family to not want to see me in person, but their fear of COVID (they are under 70) might be strong enough to where they give me that ultimatum. I hope it doesn’t come to that point, but I’m bracing myself for it. Most likely I will be seen as paranoid and being ridiculous, but I would rather not submit to that pressure.
Make no mistake, I’m not looking for advice, I just wanted to give a little backstory to my question to the the forum. For those of you who are skeptical of the vaccine and plan on refusing to take it, are you already seeing the relationship between your family, extended or otherwise, strained because of this? If the vaccine question hasn’t come up, do you foresee your stance on the vaccine causing your family to think more negatively of you or strain the family relationship?
I’m not a professional or expert (though frankly experts and professionals these days are increasingly useless), but I would advise those skeptical of a vaccine with less than a year of development to stand your ground on this issue as a matter of your own personal health. The pandemic has shined a blacklight on the nature of those in power around the world, and to place absolute trust in these institutions would be unwise. Stay strong in your resolve!
Great post. I'm right in the middle of this.
My parents are inquiring multiple times per day about my "efforts" to become vaccinated. They view it as a legitimate cure for the pandemic; they believe we will all be completely safe the moment we are vaccinated, and not one moment sooner. I have no doubt they are gleefully anticipating the arrival of a vaccine passport in our state. Telling them I don't want the vaccine would be tantamount to telling them I voted for Trump. They would immediately excise me from the family circle until such time as I "see the light" and join them in the radical leftist fold. If I were to tell them what I really think about their positions on this subject, they would probably disown me.
It's deeply upsetting to see people I once respected as intelligent and rational thinkers succumbing so completely to media fear mongering. I shouldn't be surprised because these same people cheered on the BLM riots and acted like the capitol riot was another 9/11, but I could at least duck all of that idiocy by dropping out of family chats and going quiet during zoom calls. With vaccination, I have to continually lie to them, and that could blow up in a very big way if vaccine passports go wide (which they probably will here in my uber leftist state).
I'm thinking of relenting and getting the JnJ shot. It seems the least terrible of the three. I'm going to tell my family that I didn't want to do it at all, that I felt pressured by them to get it, and that I will not be happy with permanent vaccine passports, the establishment of mandatory, yearly booster shots, or any long-term negative side effects of the vaccine. I'm going to make it very clear that if any of these things happen, I will blame them for blindly coercing me to compromise my beliefs.
Tldr: if I begrudgingly get the vaccine, I'm at least going to hedge by setting it up as an opportunity to red pill my entire retarded family if/when something goes wrong. And if that isn't enough reason for them to stop being idiots, I'll have plenty of motivation to pull the old "you can't fire me because I quit."
Just tell them you are waiting until the vaccine is out of clinical trials first before taking it. They would not want you to risk your health on an unpredictable and unproven treatment I am sure.