When I write it out like this it doesn’t seem insightful at all, but basically people are doing a cost/benefit analysis with different inputs. A lot of the objections boil down to “it doesn’t seem worth it to me”, which can be broken down into (1) “there isn’t enough upside” and (2) there’s too much downside. This isn’t exhaustive but the reasons given are mostly about:
Insufficient upside:
Don’t trust that it will protect from getting COVID (no/low personal upside)
Already at low risk (no/low personal upside)
Don’t trust that it will prevent transmitting COVID (no/low altruistic upside)
Don’t really care that much about living anyway
Too much downside:
Receiving vaccines is unpleasant (needle phobia)
The (normal, expected) side effects are unpleasant
Traveling to get the vaccine is hard or aversive
There are too many people at the vaccine site and you’re afraid
Getting an appointment is hard or aversive
The vaccine is actively dangerous (serious side effects, death/depopulation, tracking devices), or could be (too many unknowns)
Bowing to the vaccine mandate is a slippery slope to totalitarianism
Social cost to bowing to the vaccine mandate (tribalism)
IIRC old people are mostly getting the vaccine regardless of tribe, because their risk is potentially very high and they feel that viscerally. My upside was very high because I was in a semi-self-imposed prison and because if I didn’t get vaccinated no one would let me hang out with them, and my downside was low (among other things, I’m not afraid of needles, and even if heart inflammation side effects are a thing, I have no relevant risk factors).
But looking at it like this, I actually find it hard to fault people whose cost/benefit analysis came out the other way. All of the downsides make sense to me as things that would deter me from getting the vaccine (I don’t believe that the vaccine is actively dangerous in expectation, but if I believed that were true, it would definitely deter me). In conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
May I add one downside? Vaccines are expensive and ultimately paid by the community.
I’ve heard on at least 3 different occasions people around me arguing that the unvaccinated were unconscious of how costly it would be if they ended up hospitalized. It upsets me that it never seems to dawn on them that vaccines are not free.
Even if the government has already bought the doses, taking one justifies that spending, and incentivizes them to buy more.
When I write it out like this it doesn’t seem insightful at all, but basically people are doing a cost/benefit analysis with different inputs. A lot of the objections boil down to “it doesn’t seem worth it to me”, which can be broken down into (1) “there isn’t enough upside” and (2) there’s too much downside. This isn’t exhaustive but the reasons given are mostly about:
Insufficient upside:
Don’t trust that it will protect from getting COVID (no/low personal upside)
Already at low risk (no/low personal upside)
Don’t trust that it will prevent transmitting COVID (no/low altruistic upside)
Don’t really care that much about living anyway
Too much downside:
Receiving vaccines is unpleasant (needle phobia)
The (normal, expected) side effects are unpleasant
Traveling to get the vaccine is hard or aversive
There are too many people at the vaccine site and you’re afraid
Getting an appointment is hard or aversive
The vaccine is actively dangerous (serious side effects, death/depopulation, tracking devices), or could be (too many unknowns)
Bowing to the vaccine mandate is a slippery slope to totalitarianism
Social cost to bowing to the vaccine mandate (tribalism)
IIRC old people are mostly getting the vaccine regardless of tribe, because their risk is potentially very high and they feel that viscerally. My upside was very high because I was in a semi-self-imposed prison and because if I didn’t get vaccinated no one would let me hang out with them, and my downside was low (among other things, I’m not afraid of needles, and even if heart inflammation side effects are a thing, I have no relevant risk factors).
But looking at it like this, I actually find it hard to fault people whose cost/benefit analysis came out the other way. All of the downsides make sense to me as things that would deter me from getting the vaccine (I don’t believe that the vaccine is actively dangerous in expectation, but if I believed that were true, it would definitely deter me). In conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks for categorizing and summarizing respondents’ concerns, I found it valuable.
May I add one downside? Vaccines are expensive and ultimately paid by the community.
I’ve heard on at least 3 different occasions people around me arguing that the unvaccinated were unconscious of how costly it would be if they ended up hospitalized. It upsets me that it never seems to dawn on them that vaccines are not free.
Even if the government has already bought the doses, taking one justifies that spending, and incentivizes them to buy more.
So it seems this is an argument you would endorse. If so, would you add some numbers for the costs of vaccination vs non-vaccination?