The COVID-19 vaccine in retrospect

[sexually_inactive]

Back in 2020 the COVID-19 vaccine was the most hotly debated topic on the internet. Now nobody talks about it. I started in the undecided camp holding the same worries most people did about the vaccine being rushed and the most popular ones being mRNA vaccines which hadn't been used in human vaccines before. After an initial period of hesitation I joined the pro-vax side and crusaded over the internet in favour of the vaccines. I did practice what I preached and booked my appointment immediately after learning I had become eligible for it. When I eventually got COVID I felt terrible, far worse than the flu. Without the vaccine I may well have ended up in hospital.

Thinking about it now, I'm glad I got vaccinated but crusading on the internet over it was a fucking waste of time and achieved absolutely fucking nothing. The best thing to do would have been ignore the heated debates and stick to a simple comment saying I will get vaccinated then a few a social media posts saying I got my first, second and third dose.

The vaccines did have their side-effects. The now discontinued Astrazeneca vaccine had a 1 in 100,000 risk of lethal blood clots. The mRNA vaccines carry their own risk of heart related issues. In the fear and confusion of the pandemic misinformation about the side-effects including facial paralysis and magnetism spread all over the internet.

Back when vaccine mandates were announced I called them an unfortunate necessity of the times and still think of them this way.

 

[Lostbhoy]

There was no covid or vaccine, it was all mind control and microchips.

Ask the flat earthers and anti vaxers, they'll tell ya!

 

[emigre]

Got the vaccine and my 5G is still terrible.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet kids!

 

[Sicklyboy]

I never was able to get spoons to stick to my nose so I think the vaccine was fake, I want my money back

"I got the COVID-19 vaccine and all I got was this stupid COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card"

 

[yankii]

Took the vaccine but no 500IQ autism yet. I got scammed.

 

[XenoFredo]

I see people still don't want to admit to themselves that they got duped, that it was never as bad as it was sold to us, that there was no deadly global pandemic, that the vaccines should never have been considered by anyone under 60, that they played along and closed their eyes to totalitarian measures that made everyone's lives not even worth living anymore.

It's been a bit over 3 years that this madness ended, but I still remember the nightmare it was, how I had no idea if I'd ever be allowed to integrate society again, and be able to go to a restaurant, to the gym, maybe even to work. Hell at a point I was hearing Belgian politicians say that they would ruin us with a straight face, take away our ability to work, fine us until we were on the streets, and the president of the United States himself wish for our death. Great times.

So laugh away, make those silly jokes, but please stop denying what is now plainly obvious in retrospect, the ones who didn't fall for it and didn't go along were right, by far. And thank God I at least never have to worry about whatever side-effect these vaccines will cause in my body in the long run.

But there is nothing to worry about, right? Good then, maybe crack another joke about us crazy conspiracy theorists. They don't seem like a desperate coping mechanism at all.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

It was 100% a scam. The biggest shift in wealth in human history. The big pharmaceutical companies actually conned people into believing that teens to 30-somethings needed to get this jab when they absolutely did not. When 0.00000001% of that age range were impacted. It was only the obese, the elderly and those with pre existing respiratory illness that ever needed to be vaccinated.

Loads of new billionaires created. Half the vaccines bought on the tax payer dime were just thrown into a landfill.

Post automatically merged: Aug 2, 2025

I see people still don't want to admit to themselves that they got duped, that it was never as bad as it was sold to us, that there was no deadly global pandemic, that the vaccines should never have been considered by anyone under 60, that they played along and closed their eyes to totalitarian measures that made everyone's lives not even worth living anymore.

It's been a bit over 3 years that this madness ended, but I still remember the nightmare it was, how I had no idea if I'd ever be allowed to integrate society again, and be able to go to a restaurant, to the gym, maybe even to work. Hell at a point I was hearing Belgian politicians say that they would ruin us with a straight face, take away our ability to work, fine us until we were on the streets, and the president of the United States himself wish for our death. Great times.

So laugh away, make those silly jokes, but please stop denying what is now plainly obvious in retrospect, the ones who didn't fall for it and didn't go along were right, by far. And thank God I at least never have to worry about whatever side-effect these vaccines will cause in my body in the long run.

But there is nothing to worry about, right? Good then, maybe crack another joke about us crazy conspiracy theorists. They don't seem like a desperate coping mechanism at all.

And they want you to just forget it ever happened and how they acted.

 

[SeltzerMist]

Anti vaxxers are as low IQ as flat earthers

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Anti vaxxers are as low IQ as flat earthers

Who in this thread is an anti vaxxer?

 

[Taleweaver]

Above anything, it taught me how idiotic and selfish people can be.
We reward influencers with attention and clicks, so of course rumours cropped up. To my horror, it wasn't just a marginalized group of American rednecks (i still don't get what trump hoped to achieve by setting a bad example), but some close people as well.
I worked ict in horeca. Baristas weren't allowed without vaccination proof and even custom ers had to prove their status, but this one colleague didn't believe in it and undid all safety precautions. The fact our boss knew and he wasn't even reprimanded is part reason i don't work there anymore.

Edit: the nurse of my grandma was another family feud. She didn't believe in the virus. But because she didn't live close, we pretty much had to resort to try to talk sense in grandma to get another nurse ASAP.
Morbid as it can be, i can't say I'm very sorry to hear she passed away (the nurse... My grandma recently celebrated her 100th birthday).

I see people still don't want to admit to themselves that they got duped, that it was never as bad as it was sold to us, that there was no deadly global pandemic, that the vaccines should never have been considered by anyone under 60, that they played along and closed their eyes to totalitarian measures that made everyone's lives not even worth living anymore.

It's been a bit over 3 years that this madness ended, but I still remember the nightmare it was, how I had no idea if I'd ever be allowed to integrate society again, and be able to go to a restaurant, to the gym, maybe even to work. Hell at a point I was hearing Belgian politicians say that they would ruin us with a straight face, take away our ability to work, fine us until we were on the streets, and the president of the United States himself wish for our death. Great times.

So laugh away, make those silly jokes, but please stop denying what is now plainly obvious in retrospect, the ones who didn't fall for it and didn't go along were right, by far. And thank God I at least never have to worry about whatever side-effect these vaccines will cause in my body in the long run.

But there is nothing to worry about, right? Good then, maybe crack another joke about us crazy conspiracy theorists. They don't seem like a desperate coping mechanism at all.

You clearly don't know anyone who worked in a hospital.

Post automatically merged: Aug 2, 2025

Hell at a point I was hearing Belgian politicians say that they would ruin us with a straight face

Which one(s)? Like most, i spent it watching television, but the only quotable line was Maggie De Blocks "blijf in uw kot". (stay at home)

 

[The Catboy]

Got the vac, my autism levels went up, I turned from a normal catboy into a wolfcatboy, and my wife is now using my body heat as her own personal space heater. That's my personal journey, all conspiracies and stupidty around the vaccine never happened.

 

[Sir Tortoise]

OP, if you're tired of crusading, I hope you understand that creating this thread is going to spark another war. I'm tired of crusading. There is no debate to be had here, the facts are clear, and vaccination is one of the most powerful discoveries humanity has ever made.
Every attempt to discredit them is just riddled with inconsistences, it's tiring to try and explain why they're wrong, when the person posting has already made up their mind and another will replace them if they eventually give up.

Its still worth it for the people who aren't decided, who might otherwise see nonsense unchallenged and assume that means it is true. But you cant convince everyone.

In the end, my promised expiration date as a result of getting the vaccine has come and gone several times now. Been told it'll kill me in two weeks, two months, two years, any day now. I'm still here. What's the holdup? Every time they commit to making an actual stance on how the vaccine is bad, they get proven wrong. So they have to be as vague as possible so there's nothing of substance to refute, vibes-based conspiracies. Usually the last fallback is random anecdotes and wildly extrapolating from those.

You mention 1/100,000 chances of lethal blood clots. That is incredibly low, frankly I'm dubious of the figure simply because it seems unrealistically good, taking ibuprofen has a tiny chance to cause death. You probably have similar odds of death from injecting saline in case the patient has a freak reaction to the needle.

It is obviously far, far better than the odds of dying to Covid, or we'd be at about 70k Covid deaths had the entire world population been infected. So yeah, I'll take those odds, especially since the vaccine then reduces the ability of covid to spread, reducing the number of times we have to roll those far heavy dice.

If the odds of death to Covid were 1/100,000, then yeah, the people saying it was nothing to worry about would be right! But we're at 7 million dead, not 70 thousand, and that's AFTER the efforts to try and stop it. Many of them could have been prevented, but weren't because many of the world's leading politicians are, uh, not very good.

My government's leaders had the genius idea to gain herd immunity, because you see, if the population is immune then the disease cannot spread.
How did they plan to get that immunity, to prevent infections...? By allowing the disease to spread. To, uh, prevent infections. Uh. I think there's a flaw here.
These are the guys that people say are behind the largest scale conspiracy in human history? Yeah, I'm not convinced.

But, by all means, if anyone wants to engage in a Reasonable Debate, go for it. Here is the list of problems I have with the anti-vaccine argument, feel free to pick one, doesn't have to be all of them.

If the vaccine causes side effects,
1) How do you know?
2) What side effects, and how often?
3) Have those been compared to the effects of getting Covid, and are they worse?

If Covid is a hoax,
1) How do you know?
2) Who made it, and why?
3) How did the creators of this manage to suppress all evidence of this, except the evidence you've found?

If Covid is real but not as bad as the vaccine,
1) How do you know?
2) How is it being made to look worse than it is?

Just, commit to an actual stance. Leave the rhetoric about Them at home. Gimmie the facts. What actual proof convinced you?

The fact I have to have three seperate categories for different forms of the conspiracy... Can you at least give a convincing argument on WHICH conspiracy is the real one? There's a saying in medical professions, if you have ten treatments for something then none of them are very good. Is there still not a consensus on this? It just looks like throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.

 

[DiscostewSM]

People seriously saying Covid wasn't so bad? Maybe it's because the vaccine actually did what it was designed to do, slow it down and ultimately stopping it. It doesn't actually cure one of the virus. It boosts your immune system by introducing a weaker version of the virus so that it can learn to attack the real thing.

For the love of Pete, folks are becoming increasingly stupid with the current man in charge....

 

[Joe88]

I caught the beta variant back in jan 2021, was sidelined for a month at home with fever spikes up to 105.6F within the first few days, vaccine rollout was just started a few weeks before but I couldn't get an appointment due to scalpers with bots overwhelming the site.

Anyway fast forward oct that same year, I was forced to get a vaccine due to work requirements, decided to skip the mrna based 2 shot vaccine and opt for the single shot J&J old style vaccine since it was a one and done, and the timing lined up with a nyc promotion to get paid $100 to get the vaccine, so I guess that worked out at least.
Now as far of my thoughts, I dont think forcing people to get a vaccine was the right move, especially children, unless you were elderly or had underlying conditions but the mass majority of the population did not need the vaccine, it also did not "stop the spread" as people were still getting it and most were actively helping spread it due to thinking they werent sick anymore or being non symptomatic.
And now no gives af about the vaccine, the virus mutated so much its a non issue anymore and I myself still suffer from long covid after all these years, mainly fatigue/low stamina.

 

[SeltzerMist]

I dont think forcing people to get a vaccine was the right move, especially children, unless you were elderly or had underlying conditions but the mass majority of the population did not need the vaccine

This ignores what it meant to be an asymptomatic carrier, where you had numerous people who tested positive pre vaccine but showed no symptoms and were otherwise healthy. This is why doctors still recommend people get the flu shot annually, even if you are healthy. Vaccines reduce the viral load, which in many instances will protect infants, elderly etc even if you are healthy. This was nothing new.

it also did not "stop the spread"

We can thank MAGA for that, we unfortunately had a significant number of people opt out due to sheer idiocy.

 

[The Catboy]

it also did not "stop the spread"

I mean, it would have done more if people weren't fucking stupid. Getting pissy over masks, social distancing, and trying to prevent the spread didn't help. People who made COVID and the vaccine political only made the problem worse. The fact that big box stores, fast food restaurants, and so on remained open didn't help either. Coupled with the stupid people like anti-vaxxors, who spread misinformation and literally kill people. There were a lot of factors that made sure COVID was here to stay, and the vast majority can be and should be placed squarely on the shoulders of idiots. Tragically, many of the idiots who spread the disease further are still too stupid to realize the harm they've caused.

 

[DiscostewSM]

This ignores what it meant to be an asymptomatic carrier, where you had numerous people who tested positive pre vaccine but showed no symptoms and were otherwise healthy. This is why doctors still recommend people get the flu shot annually, even if you are healthy. Vaccines reduce the viral load, which in many instances will protect infants, elderly etc even if you are healthy. This was nothing new.

Kind of like wearing masks. It's not simply a shield for me against you, but a shield for you against me.

We can thank MAGA for that, we unfortunately had a significant number of people opt out due to sheer idiocy.

Spitting and coughing at people purposefully is a good way to spread disease.

If a person says the Covid vaccine wasn't needed, then why did the idiot in office at the time make any mention of ways to combat it, like through using bleach?

 

[PrettyENA]

I mean, it would have done more if people weren't fucking stupid. Getting pissy over masks, social distancing, and trying to prevent the spread didn't help. People who made COVID and the vaccine political only made the problem worse. The fact that big box stores, fast food restaurants, and so on remained open didn't help either. Coupled with the stupid people like anti-vaxxors, who spread misinformation and literally kill people. There were a lot of factors that made sure COVID was here to stay, and the vast majority can be and should be placed squarely on the shoulders of idiots. Tragically, many of the idiots who spread the disease further are still too stupid to realize the harm they've caused.

I think a lot people really don't realize the vaccine was suppose to be a part of a bunch of different countermeasures that relied on each other more or less doing it's thing to work well. It was suppose to be an aid in stopping the spreed and being as protective as it could, not magically disappear the virus from existence

You cannot say a shield doesn't work if people are actively throwing themselves into unnecessary danger that is hitting them from all sides and then complaining the shield didn't protect them and therefore the shield is a hoax

COVID was not the black plague but it was surely devastating in the sense that having a big chunk of the human population sick, even if not at risk of dying, is a logistical nightmare that went longer than it should had if people weren't morons and treated a disease like a disease

 

[savageNation]

I got the covid vaccine and I'm generally not scared to get vaccinated. I know that vaccines rarely cause debilitating side effects and even death, but that only effects the minority and I could care less what the minority thinks on this issue. The thing about COVID that got to me was the way the Obama, Hillairy and Biden used it to further their socialism agenda. The purposely tanked the economy and used the pandemic to manipulate Generation Z into thinking that capitalism has failed. "I can't get a well paying job, I can't afford health insurance, I can't afford college, I can't afford current prices on things". Yeah, and who's doing is that? The Democrats! They wanted to disrupt the entire country because they earn for power and want to pass socialism. One thing that I do find funny about the forum rules relating to Nazi's is that socialism usually leads to communism. Anyway, we have the Liberals number, we know what they're trying to do - they are an enemy of the state because they want to piss on the US constitution and put their leaders in power. That's the main thing I dislike about the way some people used COVID to further their agenda.

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2025

People who made COVID and the vaccine political only made the problem worse.

Well said, the Liberals used it for their political agenda.

 

[The Catboy]

I got the covid vaccine and I'm generally not scared to get vaccinated. I know that vaccines rarely cause debilitating side effects and even death, but that only effects the minority and I could care less what the minority thinks on this issue. The thing about COVID that got to me was the way the Obama, Hillairy and Biden used it to further their socialism agenda. The purposely tanked the economy and used the pandemic to manipulate Generation Z into thinking that capitalism has failed. "I can't get a well paying job, I can't afford health insurance, I can't afford college, I can't afford current prices on things". Yeah, and who's doing is that? The Democrats! They wanted to disrupt the entire country because they earn for power and want to pass socialism. One thing that I do find funny about the forum rules relating to Nazi's is that socialism usually leads to communism. Anyway, we have the Liberals number, we know what they're trying to do - they are an enemy of the state because they want to piss on the US constitution and put their leaders in power. That's the main thing I dislike about the way some people used COVID to further their agenda.

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2025

Well said, the Liberals used it for their political agenda.

Go outside, Heavy