[ctyc]

Because some people have already had COVID, received natural antibodies as a result, and are relying on time-tested science, logic, and intuition in their personal decision to not also get a set of shots + [x] boosters so they can be “safe”. By the way, do me a favor and solve for x in the above equation! And solve again a year from now. And again 5 years from now.

[BobbyJo]

I completely agree that having been infected with COVID should excuse one from vaccine mandates, at least within some time frame. However, that isn't why most of the unvaccinated are unvaccinated. Only a few million people had been infected with COVID in the U.S. at the time the vaccine was released, around 1% of the population.

[ctyc]

Not everyone goes to the doctor for a scratchy throat (primary symptom of Omicron, by the way), and as a result a huge number of data points are quickly excluded from that “1%” stat.

[BobbyJo]

We can say with fairly high confidence that the natural immunity rate is fairly low due to the infection rate of the unvaccinated vs. the vaccinated. If any significant portion of the unvaccinated had natural immunity, then the gap between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated would close since natural immunity actually confers more protection.

[ceh123]

Right but if you have no diagnosis of Covid then the argument above doesn’t apply since you don’t actually have any evidence of “natural immunity”

[_Microft]

Influenza, tetanus, TBE and polio vaccinations also require repeat shots from time to time - and there are certainly more as these are only the ones that I can remember off the cuff.

[ctyc]

In the case of the flu, the jury has always been out in it’s effectiveness due to the seasonal variation (the flu shot (notice how that’s never been called a vaccine, for good reason) is based on previous year’s strain.

Lumping that in with the rest of the diseases on your list where a vaccine can and does provide true immunity is a massive case of apples and oranges.

[_Microft]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_vaccine

[mcculley]

Of the many people who have told me that they have had COVID already, none have donated blood and received a free antibody test. I donated blood three times between the start of the pandemic and getting the first vaccine. I got three free antibody tests.

Most of the unvaccinated that I talk to who claim to have had COVID but won't give blood say they are scared of needles. So it makes sense they are scared of getting the vaccine.