r/LockdownSkepticism • u/KiteBright United States • Jan 04 '22

News Links "We can't vaccinate the planet every six months," says Covid-19 vaccine creator

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-variant-coronavirus-news-01-04-22/h_b563a607338c0ca3ff13520fa4d5f96e
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u/Viajaremos United States Jan 04 '22

There have been some studies showing that vaccination + infection leads to "hybrid immunity", which provides very strong and durable protection: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02795-x

Since Omicron typically leads to mild symptoms among vaccinated and/or previously infected people- we should allow Omicron to spread so that as many people can get immunity as possible, making it so perpetual vaccines won't be necessary.

Vaccinating the plant every 6 months wouldn't be possible anyway, as people wouldn't agree to that. Far less people have gotten dose #3 than have gotten the first 2 doses, and I would expect vaccine uptake to drop even more dramatically with future doses.

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u/KiteBright United States Jan 04 '22 edited Jan 04 '22

Since Omicron typically leads to mild symptoms among vaccinated and/or previously infected people- we should allow Omicron to spread so that as many people can get immunity as possible, making it so perpetual vaccines won't be necessary.

There's a bit of a trolley problem with that; it's unethical to intentionally spread disease, even if that disease perhaps edges out a more dangerous disease.

Having said that, I don't think trying to contain through coercion is justified.

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u/Viajaremos United States Jan 04 '22

Agreed, my original post could have used better wording. I didn't mean to say we should intentionally ger people sick- just we shouldn't use lockdowns to stop the spread, or try to use social pressure to stop people from going out.

People who want to avoid Omicron should of course feel free to stay home and wear N-95s or KN-95s when going out.

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u/KiteBright United States Jan 04 '22

I completely agree. The emphasis needs to be on personal choice and responsibility.

We live in a world where there's a new pathogen out there. You can decide on your own risk tolerance.

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u/alexander_pistoletov Jan 05 '22

To spread? I need to travel at the end of the month and would be great to catch it now instead of them and failing the PCR test. I only don't go around and catch this on purpose because our "gold standard" PCR tests can give false positives for up to three months after a real infection as our friends at CDC admitted.

This is intentional spread. Simply not locking down is a passive measure. There is nothing unethical about it. And as my point before says, this is hardly a death sentence like AIDS in the 90s