Sure, precisely. While you have a look at the research that got here out up to now, most of the research urged that vaccination reduces the probabilities of lengthy COVID.
They’re placing a barrier to not simply low-risk individuals getting vaccines, however doubtlessly to high-risk individuals getting vaccines. Of their paper, they begin off by saying that numerous European international locations aren’t doing [boosters]. However we now have a a lot totally different inhabitants than most European international locations, with a excessive stage of weight problems and a excessive stage of comorbidities. We’re, at baseline, a inhabitants the place many individuals are at excessive danger. When the HHS secretary got here out to make this edict, he omitted being pregnant as one of many high-risk issues, which is admittedly worrisome, as a result of that’s a high-risk group.
The second situation is that insurance coverage corporations cowl vaccines when the FDA says they’re okay to make use of, and the ACIP says these are the populations that most likely ought to have one, after which we go away it open to everyone else. Then the insurance coverage corporations cowl it. They discuss medical freedom, however they’ve taken away the liberty of individuals to make a private option to get their vaccine. And it doesn’t comply with science, as a result of they’re doing one thing totally different for the flu.
It’s so complicated to determine who’s excessive danger that most individuals will then say, “Oh, I don’t qualify,” or their insurance coverage corporations could go away them out, even when they’re excessive danger. So it’s possible you’ll create limitations for even excessive danger.
Why can we use flu vaccines in healthcare employees? Not all healthcare employees are excessive danger. We use it as a result of it decreases the incidence of extreme illness, which numerous instances is correlated with excessive quantities of virus. When anyone is sick, they’re making a excessive stage of the virus. COVID vaccines don’t block transmission fully, however do scale back the severity of illness and do blunt transmission by some quantity. They scale back extra symptomatic infections. It’s the rationale why we encourage flu vaccines for everyone within the inhabitants. As a result of any lower you can also make within the illness can have some affect in defending others who’re weak as nicely, along with the individuals themselves who’ve it.
It’s a population-based technique. It isn’t an individual-based technique. They’ve taken that safety away in an atmosphere the place the virus continues to be repeatedly altering.
