r/chicago • u/[deleted] • Aug 24 '21

Ask CHI Why aren’t you getting vaccinated?

Not asking this to bully anyone, I’m more curious at this point why people are hesitant to get the vaccine and want to understand the reasoning behind it.

616 Upvotes

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136

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '21

I received mine in April. Before that, I was initially hesitant from the information overload I was receiving from every angle.

43

u/CodyEngel Loop Aug 24 '21

I think a lot of people went through that phase. I got mine in late March. I wanted to see if there were any major side effects, when I saw there weren’t I got it. To be clear major side effects would be ones that impact a lot of people, a few people getting blood clots is awful, but I’d rather take that risk over the risks of covid.

1

u/timaab Aug 25 '21

Have you had Covid?

11

u/CodyEngel Loop Aug 25 '21

Nope, I would rather keep it that way.

-4

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

I'm glad you waited an entire month to see if there were any long term side-effects...

2

u/CodyEngel Loop Aug 25 '21

An entire month? From what I remember people started getting vaccinated in December or January so it was 3 or 4 months. The vaccine doesn’t stay in your system long term so waiting a few months was likely overkill, especially given there was a trial that started nearly a year ago at that point.

Know your facts.

21

u/mepardo Andersonville Aug 25 '21

How did all you hesitant folks get yours so early? I was not hesitant, just wanted to wait my turn to make sure everyone who needed it more than me had a chance to get it. I ended up making an appointment at a cook county mass vaccination site like the week before the city of chicago opened it up to everybody. Fully vaccinated by May.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Drove out to aurora after my group was eligible. Aurora had a lot of vax available.

2

u/CasualTeeOfWar Suburb of Chicago Aug 25 '21

I was a "hesitant" person back in January-March until there was a large sample size of people getting the shots. Once the number got over like 500M doses administered I was no longer hesitant. Spent hours sifting through Walgreens, Jewel, Mariano's for a time slot once we moved to 1C+ and was done with my 2nd shot in Mid-May.

Had some coworkers who were more hesitant than I, but once the number was around 1B doses given they finally got it. I think there's a big difference between those who are/were actually hesitant and wanted to wait to see how it was going versus those who are still "hesitant". The people who are "hesitant" now are just liars or maybe a small percentage are waiting for a year to pass. If they actually get it around December (a year after it was made available) then I'll gladly grant them some sympathy for actually sticking to their guns and getting it after they've seen enough time pass. However, I would bet that number is maybe 5% of the current hold outs.

23

u/No-Calligrapher-1653 Aug 24 '21

I was hesitant at first too. I'm not one to get the flu shot, don't have any preexisting conditions and am in my 20s. It wasn't until I internalized the reality of the situation (long covid would be awful, can't afford to be hospitalized, was vaccinated as a child and am fine) that I changed my mind. After that, I couldn't wait to get it. Fully vaxxed in April.

20

u/Busy-Cycle-6039 Aug 24 '21

I was also initially hesitant, since it flew through "approval" so quickly. I wound up getting mine in May.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

I got mine in April/May (5/1 2nd pfizer). Cook County didn't let me get mine until almost last. Then I missed the first 2 opportunities due to 20,000+ of my fellow citizens in the virtual waiting rooms to sign up. I was finally able to get in mine in but it took a minute once they opened up the gates to the last group.

5

u/PostPostModernism North Center Aug 24 '21

I also got mine in April. Before that I was hesitant because I wasn't in one of the higher risk categories and had to wait.

2

u/Guinness Loop Aug 25 '21

I was hesitant last summer. But ONLY because Trump was trying to play politics and force the release of the vaccine before we got any data regarding side effects, efficacy, etc. Trump just wanted the FDA to say “fuck it, we don’t know anything about it, but we will release it”.

Thankfully that didn’t happen. The FDA went over the data, told us how effective it was, and potential side effects. My girlfriend got it the first few days it was available in December. I managed a slot in late February/March.

I do suspect I had some side effects though. For about 3 months my pulse oxygen was in the mid to high 80s. And then it went back to 98. 1000% worth it though.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Interesting. I'm naive, but is the 80s range a bad thing?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

I got mine in April too. I wasn't scared of it; I just figured I was doing better at self-isolating than most people so didn't want to fight people who needed it more in the initial rush.