[hncurious]

I agree. It'd be the same with Covid too if the risk was high. Ultimately the reason so many don't want a Covid vaccine is because the risk of hospitalization is only 1.6% and is well below 1% if you're young and otherwise healthy. Or if you already had Covid and have natural immunity you're about as protected as the vaccinated (<1% chance of hospitalization).

If the risk of hospitalization or death was 10%? 30%? Almost everyone would want the vaccine except the real hardcore anti-vaxxers. You wouldn't have to mandate or otherwise coerce people to take something if the threat was that credible generally. Few resist the smallpox vaccine, for example.

[jacquesm]

The threat is very credible. Just as the misinformation and bullshit campaign is very powerful. To the point where even a credible threat isn't enough to get people to act in their own best interest. With odds approaching 1:400 across the whole population of death and substantially higher of a serious bout of disease it is quite amazing how many people continue to downplay this because of the age factor.

If the odds were that good for the lottery I'd be playing.

[hncurious]

The fear campaign is very powerful too. People radically overestimate the risk. A large % of the population overestimates it by 48.4%!

"For unvaccinated hospitalization risk, 2% of Democrats responded correctly, compared with 16% of Republicans. In fact, 41% of Democrats replied that at least 50% of unvaccinated people have been hospitalized due to COVID-19."

https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/354938/adults-estimat...

But yes, on the other side of it, if a 60 year old obese person isn't taking the vaccine, they're misinformed too. Their risk benefit analysis is off.

[geekbird]

The problem is that many people who think that they are 'healthy' without comorbidities that make covid worse are, quite frankly, deluded.

"Nearly 40% of American adults aged 20 and over are obese. 71.6% of adults aged 20 and over are overweight, including obesity." (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017-2018; Harvard School of Public Health, 2020).

So 71.6% of American adults are at elevated risk for severe Covid. Because even just being overweight increases your risk of hospitalization if you get it.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7010e4.htm

So IF the unvaccinated have the same demographic profile as general US adults, then 71.6% have an elevated risk of hospitalization if they catch Covid because they are overweight and unvaccinated.

You will notice that there is no political affiliation in that conclusion. Also, risk is not actuality, and levels of comorbidities vary from person to person, so population risks and personal risks are different.

Now, as to how many have actually had covid and been hospitalized I will admit that there is a perception difference based on political affiliation. But for that data, I will respect the actual statistics, not my perception based on displayed attitudes.

Basically, the problem is that a lot of adults think that they aren't fat, or don't know they have high cholesterol, etc. and are declining the vaccine because they are 'healthy'.

https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/238272/c...