[gfodor]

False. It could very well turn out that mRNA vaccines specifically have long term side effects with other medications or underlying conditions we do not yet understand, which would, for example, warrant the choice of not using them in children, who present low risk to COVID. This may not mean not vaccinating overall, but it could determine which vaccine to choose from the selection of mechanisms. Not mRNA vaccines in general, but this specific mRNA vaccine, which causes your body to synthesize this specific protein.

edit to respond to your deleted comment: the falsifiable claim you made is that one side is right and the other is wrong, when it could be both sides are wrong for different reasons. and I was eagerly vaccinated in February, given COVID was plausibly a life-threatening illness to me given underlying lung damage.

[th0ma5]

We know that the disease itself has long term effects and they are showing up. We don't have any evidence yet that there are any long-term side effects to any of the vaccines. There have been some that of course have had heart problems or death, but those are rare, and are heavily outweighed by the benefits of the vaccine.

I guess I hear your point that we should defer to knowledge as it is gained, and that's a good point for sure.

[gfodor]

The issue becomes clearly in focus if you consider the question of what to do about children. They do not have the same risks of COVID, nor its long term effects, in its current form. If they did, we'd be in a much deeper crisis and (valid) panic about COVID than we already are.

Under those assumptions, and the ones I've stated, it becomes clear at the very least this is a difficult question. This doesn't mean we can't form good priors, but it does mean that anyone discounting that process by claiming it is self-evident beyond a reasonable doubt is the kind of behavior we should push back against given it will ultimately cause more problems than it solves.

[th0ma5]

I haven't heard that children are any less susceptible to long-term effects of covid-19. In fact I've mostly heard the opposite that they are just as at risk of long-term side effects of the disease as anyone else.

[gfodor]

I would be curious in any good research on this subject since it may affect my own decision making.

Note: not dumb articles like the one this post is about but published papers.

[th0ma5]

Yes yes the /r/COVID19 catalogs preprint articles as they appear with some discussion, and while that isn't of course peer-reviewed it's still something to monitor.

[gfodor]

OK so it sounds like what I asked for doesn't exist. Sorry, but "I heard" doesn't count for me, since it conflicts with other things I have "heard", being networked with physicians.

[CodeGlitch]

The AstraZeneca vaccine is not mRNA based (which is the vaccine the article is talking about).