Grocery Store Guy stated a true fact about what words like "immunity" and "effectiveness" mean in a vaccine context.
It's fair to be annoyed at people building up unrealistic expectations of actual total immunity, either through ignorance or carelessness, and causing people to feel let down. I don't understand getting mad at Grocery Store Guy for pointing out what we should all have known from either Biology 101 or past personal experience with flu shots.
Well then maybe I'm just ignorant, not the first time that's happened - please explain what this is supposed to mean. NJ study: Vaccines more than 99% effective against COVID-19
Everything in here says that studies from places like Yale said that the vaccine prevented infections. It uses breakthrough cases of testing positive for Covid after being vaccinated as a measure. It talks about reducing infections and finding significantly fewer infections amongst vaccinated than non-vaccinated.
From the CDC's page on the flu shot: Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine
"Can I get seasonal flu even though I got a flu vaccine this year?
Yes. It’s possible to get sick with flu even if you have been vaccinated (although you won’t know for sure unless you get a flu test). This is possible for the following reasons:
- You may be exposed to a flu virus shortly before getting vaccinated or during the period that it takes the body to gain protection after getting vaccinated. This exposure may result in you becoming ill with flu before the vaccine begins to protect you. (Antibodies that provide protection develop in the body about 2 weeks after vaccination.)
- You may be exposed to a flu virus that is not included in the seasonal flu vaccine. There are many different flu viruses that circulate every year. A flu vaccine is made to protect against the three or four flu viruses that research suggests will be most common.
- Unfortunately, some people can become infected with a flu virus a flu vaccine is designed to protect against, despite getting vaccinated. Protection provided by flu vaccination can vary widely, based in part on health and age factors of the person getting vaccinated. In general, a flu vaccine works best among healthy younger adults and older children. Some older people and people with certain chronic illnesses may develop less immunity after vaccination. Flu vaccination is not a perfect tool, but it is the best way to protect against flu infection.
The point being - infection is the exception, not the rule. Also from the same page:
"Some people who get vaccinated may still get sick with flu. However, flu vaccination has been shown in some studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick. "
All of this to say: it provides some protection against infection, and then even if you do get infected it won't be as bad. This has been the narrative on all of this since this started, at least from what I've read, heard, discussed, etc. I'm willing to just say I'm an idiot, but I don't see how a normal person reads this stuff any differently.
Another one here, on the flu shot from the CDC: Vaccine Effectiveness: How Well Do Flu Vaccines Work? | CDC
- Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu.
- Flu vaccination prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. For example, during 2019-2020 flu vaccination prevented an estimated 7.5 million influenza illnesses, 3.7 million influenza-associated medical visits, 105,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 6,300 influenza-associated deaths.
- During seasons when flu vaccine viruses are similar to circulating flu viruses, flu vaccine has been shown to reduce the risk of having to go to the doctor with flu by 40 percent to 60 percent.
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