Opinion: Americans Should Avoid Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine

Amid the currently pressing coronavirus pandemic, a corner has been turned in the form of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Companies like Pfizer and Moderna have already begun to release vaccine doses to the public after receiving emergency approval from the FDA. Although a vaccine with the purpose of defeating this virus could be a good thing moving forward, the public has the right to be reluctant and seek information out before taking it. 

Some who are highly at-risk for COVID-19 have no other choice than take the vaccine. Others who are not at high risk, however, are somewhat concerned about the vaccine becoming more dangerous than the virus itself. Roughly 4,230,000 people in-between ages 18-29 in the United States have  had  coronavirus, but only 1,500 of these cases died. The mortality rate for that age group is 00.00035%. 

Some leading voices started a movement to oppose the shot, and they are generally not online conspiracy theorists or political extremists. Ironically, large numbers of healthcare workers, among those first designated access to receive the vaccine, are refusing to take the vaccine. Twenty-nine percent of health care workers “probably or definitely would not get a COVID-19 vaccine” according to Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on national health issues. This prominent reluctance by those on the front lines and with experience in health care services should set off some semblance of an alarm for the general public, as 27% of people  not take the vaccine. If our health care workers are not unified on the use of the coronavirus vaccine, why should the general public buy the idea that the vaccine is completely safe?

The potential side effects and rushed process for the vaccine create two major concerns for those already in opposition . These vaccines were approved for emergency use by the FDA, receiving fast-track approval, but have not gained formal approval. The fast-track approval means a lack of long-term studies on the effects caused from the new drug, and the side effects of this vaccine are still unknown. 

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is a legal wing within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides alternative legal protection for vaccine companies. If a shot creates a problem serious enough to cause damage to health of a user, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for financial compensation for damages. These companies do not have to worry about long term effects because of the emergency approval, neglecting to consider long-term safety.

Financial damages, however, do not compare to the damages on  individual freedom if mandatory vaccinations were put in place. Under precedent of a Supreme Court ruling in Jacobson v. Massachusetts of 1905, states have “police power” to enforce a variety of reasonable public health precautions, which includes mandatory vaccines. Although mandatory vaccines in the past have been successful in eradicating diseases, long-term research shows effects of various vaccines we overlooked for the sake of temporary relief. State governments should not force the public to take a vaccine so early in the development process. Although states do technically have the authority to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine, enforcing a vaccine that a relatively large percentage of people who are skeptical of would be a step beyond what is reasonable.

Employers are forced with a similar question of whether to mandate the vaccine. Up to this point in the pandemic, many businesses have enforced mask use and other sanitary precautions. They should maintain their rights as private businesses to require certain precautions from workers. A mandatory vaccine, unlike external masks or sanitizing, would be overreaching into their workers’ internal health with a vaccine still in the early stages. Employees should not be fired for refusing to take the vaccine if they comply with other external preventions because the vaccine is a large request for employers to ask.

In conclusion, reluctancy to receive COVID-19 vaccine is valid and understandable, as many health care workers are doing the same. Those that are young and healthy already have a low chance of dying from the virus, and a rushed vaccine with unknown long-term side effects for this demographic can cause more harm than it prevents.

Keaton Browder is an Opinion Writer.

50 comments

  • Just a comment about your calculations. When calculating percent, you must multiply a ratio by 100. Thus, above, the mortality rate for 18-29 year olds is 0.035%, not 0.00035%. The number is still low, though. And don’t feel bad. A lot of people make this mistake.

    • .035% mortality rate means that the odds of adult in that age group dying from covid is 1/2,857.

      For people in this age group to be afraid of covid (as they have been), shows you just how gullible and mentally weak we as a society have become.

      Would you put the chances that a rushed mRNA vaccine not having a withering impact on your long health at lower odds than 1 in a 3000 chance possibility? If not, REQUIRING the vaccine, is not only tyrannical, it is ALSO crazy.

      • Let’s look back to 1990’s when it first came out and in the first 6 weeks over 4000 died! It got pulled for sale then! Why is it safe now! And in 30 yrs it never got put back on the market or worked on! Why now! Y is this shit safe now! I still refuse to get it or my family

    • Wrong. Where did you come up with this ratio nonsense. 1500 divided by 4,230,000 = .00035% as correctly stated in the article. Let’s use other numbers and see if it makes better sense to you. If 45 people out of 100 died that is .45% Hope that clears it up for you. The mortality is not 3 1/2% as you stated.

      • 45 out of 100 is 45% by definition

      • Fred, 45 out of 100 is 45%. You are way off.

        To calculate the percentage, you take the deaths divided by the total cases and multiply by 100.

        If 100 people out of 100 infected died, that is 100%. I hope that clears it up for you.

      • Sorry, but you have a “decimal problem”.

        In fact – the **number** “0.45” is 45 percent.

        But to write that as a percent, it would be “45%”, NOT “0.45%” as you incorrectly wrote.

    • Sorry, but your math is wrong and HIS calculations are correct! 1,500 divided by 4,230,000 is .00035. That’s roughly 3 out of every 10,000… which is much less than other things (like driving a car, walking on steps, or getting the flu). Basically, the risks of Covid to this age group are low and the vaccine is not necessary.

    • And, you must refuse it. Now all kinds of info coming out, fetus material, dna/rna altering elements of chemistry, and now some saying magnets attach to the shot site = a micro-type chip to trace. You would not be able to cut it out as it will probably morph by graphene/hydrogel into the body very soon. If you had any concerns, you should have cut your arm off within a couple of days. If any part of the body offends you…….. but it’s too late at a certain point.

      But logically, looking into it more deeply, Nazi’s would just physically force you to take it. But that would mean you had no choice. All versions of the Bible, even the Queen James say this will be a CHOICE by you. That’s the most condemning fact = God will not let them physically force you now at this late date, as it is a choice. This makes you more responsible in these end times.

      And, as any attorney who still has eyes to see in this world would say in a court of law: if you have been lied to, abused, deceived, required to do anything unethical due to duress or inferiority = no court could convict anyone except the perpetrator, even if you signed a waiver/confidentiality/do not compete form. (Cite: an example might be the Monica Lewensky case where I think she signed some stuff, like confidentiality = even tho she was not innocent, I think there was a law made that if someone more powerful tries to unethically force you, in this case an employment situation, the b/s you signed is null and void).

      Which is why we have the miracle of an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who defends us by the flaming two edged word of his mouth = in the beginning was the Word. He’s got an IQ way beyond any superior Attorney on earth. (And if you’ve ever witnessed an exceptional earthly attorney, you know how this individual can slice up any opposition). = Satan, the liar and deceiver of innocents has no chance. It’s just a test because God needs to know your allegience.

  • You are 100% incorrect. The government can not force you to take an unproven vaccine that has no FDA approval and only has emergency use authorization. If they tried it would be a crime against humanity.

  • What is the best vaccine then? Pfizer and Moderna are not good enough? I wonder of people who got vaccine and how they are now…

    • I received the Moderna which is a 2 shot inoculation. The first one was Feb 2021 and the second was Mar 2021. My wife, parents, in-laws and many people I know have all had either Moderna or Pfizer without any side effect other that tiredness and slight fever on day 2. Those symptoms lasted 24 hrs.

      The concern about ‘experimental’ nature of the vaccine are largely overblown. The RNA vaccine tech has been around for years and the vaccine ingredients are not significantly different that other vaccines that billions others have received. I think it is comedic that so many claim that this is about population control and so dangerous that the very developers have demonstrated their confidence by getting the vaccine.

      The ’emergency use’ authorization, according to a leading neurologist I spoke to yesterday, has more to do with the fact that they have not finished the studies and put it through all the studies as other vaccines. It is not because it is not inherently more dangerous than other vaccines. Peeps are crazy.

      • I know half a dozen people, including myself, who all got the Pfizer vaccine. Yes, some of us had side effects for a few days (some did not). My shots were in January and early February. No extra appendages, no murderous tendencies, no illness. No big deal.

      • Studies never went forward with mRNA because the test animals died. The FDA said no back then. What changed? ADE will be a real issue. People are also dying NOW and being maimed by SAEs. You should’ve counted on your own immunity, which is multi-armed, multi-layered, and does not need experimental software to screw it up. If you do to know what my acronyms mean, btw, then you don’t know enough about what is now going to affect your endothelial cells forever especially if you go back for boosters, which you probably will.

      • mRNA technology has NEVER before been used as a vector/messenger in vaccines. There are no specific guidelines for use of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines or contraindications to mRNA vaccines. No large trials of any mRNA vaccine have been completed yet.
        The only evidence on safety of mRNA vaccines comes from small phase I and phase II trials of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, with follow-up typically less than two months.
        Larger trials of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are in progress, with results expected in mid-2021.
        There is not sufficient evidence to support any conclusions on the comparative safety of different mRNA vaccines. Direct evidence on the comparative safety of mRNA vaccines and other vaccines is lacking.

      • Andrew Stachura

        Actually John, it’s just that you aren’t educated enough to make these determinations, and you didn’t do your actual homework. If you had you would realize the Covid mRNA gene modification is a complete sham.

      • You are incorrect as yes the MRNA vaccines have been around for a long time but never used on human beings until just recently and they are bioweapons of mass destruction and will exterminate anyone within two years who is dumb enough to take it.

        All previous trials were on animals who all died after being injected.
        Bill Gates is behind it and hates people and wants to reduce the worlds population along with the New world Order down to less than 500 million from 7.5 billion. The virus was created to start that extermination process and the vaccines with finish the job by 2030 which is their goal. They hope to reduce the population of the USA from 330 million to 65-100 million by 2025.

      • But we do not know the long term effects! This is why people are reluctant! and because the death rate is so low why take the chance!

      • Have you heard about the vaccine adverse event reporting system the public one is reporting 10991 fatalities from the covid vaccine rumors that one of the other 11 reporting systems on vaccine injury is showing 45,000 fatalities a self-induced study by HHS shows their 10,000 991 number is only 1% of factual fatality

      • what ever you have to tell your self to feel better .you got duped !

      • My mother-in-law had the Moderna shots in Jan and Feb ’21…she just had a major stroke due to blood clot and AFib July 9…. She was 5 months out. Studies were only 2 months long. We will have no idea if related or not. Her whole right side and speech has been severely affected. Docs believe her right side damage is most likely permanent. She is now a two person assist in a nursing facility.

    • I got the Pfizer shot and I’m doing great. I can just shake my head at some of those comments.

    • Hi I’m Skotty, 66 yrs old, pressured into taking it via propaganda and videos of government officials and employees getting the vaccine and the push for all to work together to beat this virus. They are right we have become soft-headed for sure. I didn’t want to but I did and I am scared! I have not felt “right” since my second shot of the Pfizer vaccine. I get dizzy and nauseous 2 to 4 days a week. I am generally feeling weaker and stiffer than I was prior to the shots. I was feeling pretty good prior to vaccine as in having reflexes with and without visual acuity perform much faster and more accurate! Generally good spirits although I do have underlying medical issues. I am kicking myself in the axe and I’m scared! What can or should I do? Help I’m still kicking so far, but I feel really old and stiff, sort of trapped……. SkottySez

  • If approximately 5% of the public will get the virus, not vaccinated, and the vaccine is about 95% effective, then what is the advantage of taking the vaccine? Either way there would be approximately 5% of the public getting the virus.

  • So your argument is to fear something that MAY OR MAY NOT happen vs helping fix the problem that IS happening.

    The logic is baffling.

  • Hank Reardonmr

    Why are the effective treatments being swept under the rug? If depopulation demon, Bill Gates is for the vaccine, I’ll pass, thank you.

    • I’m with you in that Bill Gates is the most evil man on the planet and a Eugenics freak as was his father who hates people. The goal is to first reduce the USA population from 330 million to 65-100 million by 2025 then reduce the world population from 7.5 billion down to less than 500 million. First they create a virus to kill off some of the population then leash upon us a vaccine to finish the extermination process that is far worse than what the Nazi’s ever did. Look up the Georgia Guide Stones and you will see the NWO New World Order at work.

    • You tell them Jack. They are so willing to hold out their arms and get that jab that is being backed by some one that wants to depopulate the world. They not only get the JAB but they take that risk on their children as well. Look up Dr David Martin and Rehiner Fuellmich on Duck Duck Go and also watch the Stew Peters show. Learn what the Covid 19 really is and what it is all about. AND THANKS Jack. I’m with you Pal.

  • It is NOT a vaccine!
    Covid vaccine below describes how they made it. Viral vector vaccines: A type of vaccine that uses a harmless virus to chauffeur immune-system-stimulating ingredients into the human body. Viral vectors are used in several experimental Covid-19 vaccines, including those developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Both of these companies are using a common cold virus called an adenovirus as their vector. The adenovirus carries coronavirus genes. Okay. But, did they use a dead virus or a live virus to create this vaccine? It they used a live virus, it is not safe. If they used a dead virus, it may be save.
    Plus the following. On news programs today including Fox News, December 14, 2020.Now that people are starting to get the shot, they tell us it only prevents the symptoms. There is no part of the covid virus in the vaccine at all. It does not stop the covid virus. You could still get it. This is a sham!

    WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GETTING THE VACCINE, IF IT ONLY PREVENTS YOU FROM GETTING THE SYMPTOMS AND YOU COULD STILL GET IT??? THEN GIVE IT TO OTHERS.
    This is B.S and nonsense!

    THE POLIO VACCINE. When Jonas Salk came up with the polio vaccine, the dead polio virus was used to create it. I remember having to get a booster every year to stay protected from polio. There were no reports of anyone getting polio from taking this vaccine.

  • “This prominent reluctance by those on the front lines and with experience in health care services should set off some semblance of an alarm for the general public, as 27% of people not take the vaccine.”

    I would be curious who these health care workers are. To have a credible statistic, it should be broken down by job function. All employees who work for a medical facility are likely health care workers. But CNA’s, cleaning staff, administrative do not carry the same weight as virologists, immunologists and infectious disease professionals. What is the breakdown by job function.

    Secondly, it has been clearly seen in the last several years that politics on both sides trump (no pun intended) education, common sense, and reason. Is the reluctance politically based or professionally.

    Additionally, medical professionals for decades have used masks on sick people to control spread. Yet, when it comes to Covid and 2020-2021 there is still widespread misinformation.

  • Francesca Gonzalez

    Under what Article of the Constitution are Americans protected from not being forced to take the cover-19 vaccine?

    • That may be true but the Govt through Bill Gates forces his will on Govt with his billions to step aside and force private businesses to decide that if you are not vaccinated you cannot enter their establishment like even grocery stores and they can do it and have the right as the Govt has nothing to do with it as they said it is up to private corporation to make their own decisions. See how they get around not forcing you to take the vaccine but make you starve to death and not being allowed to buy even groceries. Right now in SF there are restaurants that have signs on their doors that state if you are not vaccinated you cannot enter the restaurant. They may force all unvaccinated persons to wear arm an band like the Jews in Nazi concentratrion camps were forced to wear.

    • That would be the same article as the one that the Supreme Court relied on to decide that abortion is legal because a woman has a God-given right to decide what happens with her own body.

      See the parallel? No, I knew you wouldn’t.

  • I was fired for not getting the vaccine, so unfair and how can this be legal when it’s only fda approved under emergency ?

  • Wrong and you should NOT be posting misinformation like this. It is extremely irresponsible.

  • Hans Harambasic

    My chances of dying in a car crash is 1 in 107. I have to drive to get to work etc., I’ll take my chances without purposely taking chances with an experimental vaccine.

  • This article should NOT be published by any university. It is full of misinformation. Very dangerous.

  • Why can’t they use actual use “weaken covid-19” or “dead covid-19” as an actual vaccine? It’s always been know using actual weaken/dead virus last longer as to antibodies and that they WORK! Nowhere can you find this information. The vaccines that they have now only excites antibodies and that’s about it… Not Good At All… Think about it… Something is not right… And how about those that had blood transfusions with already made covid-19 antibodies by the human body, has anyone from that ever died (can’t find any)? Again, think about it…

  • I got the Pfizer shot and I’m doing great. I can just shake my head at some of those comments.

  • No man-made anything is ever 100% safe. Read the label on any medication created today. Death is almost always listed as a side-effect on modern drugs. Some drugs GIVE you other diseases. Man’s knowledge is limited and often our egos are greater than our intelligence. Right now some teenage boys are getting fluid around the heart after being vaccinated. And the blood clot issue is there. BOTTOM LINE: Most people who take the vaccine will be OK in the short-term [as you CAN NOT know the future of a drug until the future]; Just lookup Thalidomide. Some will have adverse side-effects. A few will died. We take our chances and hope we are not the small percentage of unlucky one. But hopefully in America we will always be able to choose.

  • “Roughly 4,230,000 people in-between ages 18-29 in the United States have had coronavirus, but only 1,500 of these cases died. The mortality rate for that age group is 00.00035%. ”

    You’ve written this incorrectly.

    1500 / 4,230,000 equals “.00035”. It does not equal .00035 **percent**.

    The decimal “.00035” is actually .035 percent.

    Or – 35/1000 of one percent.

  • How is it that the federal government can mandate federal employees get the vaccine. They keep saying do what your doctor says. Talk to your doctor, etc… But if your doctor tells you that you don’t need the vaccine, how can the federal government still make you get it. That totally disregarded your doctor’s recommendations. Also it violates your constitutional rights

  • I can’t believe there are still so many ignorant, belligerent people who believe this nonsense about the vaccine being more harmful than Covid. People are dying from Covid, not from the vaccine. People have long-term health problems from Covid, not from the vaccine. If all the unvaccinated people would just wake up and get the vaccine, this would be over with in no time.

  • and I just read that there are some covid vaccines out there that are created using human stem cells. I most DEFINITELY have a right to refuse that! How disgusting and barbaric and unholy. I do believe that the Novavax that is coming out, if it’s not out already, is not made in such a way.

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