Oh gosh! I got vaxxed!
By: Vladimir Mićković
Tags: Corona, Covid 19, Vaccines, Virus, Vaccine Hesitancy

A heroic tale of a naive little man and ‘the decision of our times’

Actual shot of the shot

I much dislike it when people call anti-vaxxers “idiots”. I see no value in calling anybody an idiot. Nor is there value in calling people “sheep”. We, who have gotten the shot, are often referred to as such and I’m certain it’s not meant in the cute, fluffy way. 🐑 I think the way people come to being against (taking) vaccines actually makes complete sense. Big Pharma is an objectively questionable institution, and I am being gentle here. Mainstream media is shit in many, many ways. Don’t even get me started on our governing institutions and their absolute charade of a response to the pandemic. But in their defense, they had a shit reputation, to begin with. All of them.

And with their voices combined, they screeched at the peoples a mountain of statistics, and said “Hear hear, peasants! Present thy shoulder and we shall spurt a chemical solution into thine blood, and you will be deemed a ‘hero’.” It doesn’t surprise me that not everyone came running with their sleeves up. And when they didn’t, what followed was a slew of insults, threats, and restrictions. Aromatic undertones of fascism were present. The recipe for trust, indeed.

Everything ‘sciency’ can seem credible to me

I’ve also been confused at times. I’ve read articles by ‘experts’ from both sides of the aisle. I’ll be honest, whenever a “science person” starts saying stuff about molecules, cells, and viruses, all while using terms I’ve never encountered, they kinda start sounding credible to me. It is only through sheer force of mind that I can decide not to take it at face value, although I am incapable of debunking anything. I’ve read this text by a lady doctor from an “alliance of concerned doctors” (lol); aside from the emotional fluff about her children’s future (clearly there to manipulate), the scientific shit she was saying still seemed legit to me.🤪

I mean, what the fuck do I know? If someone says spike proteins are bad, I might just conclude “well yeah, spiky things are never good” or “me no likey spikey in my blood.” Such is the level of my understanding of medicine, despite reading way, way too much about this in the past year.

I Against I

I was never 100% against vaccines, however when the pandemic began, I could often be heard saying in a calm, composed voice, full of wise tonality: “I’m not against vaccines per se, but never in history have they developed one in just a year.” That made total sense to me. But then I realized that it’s me saying that. I have never thought about vaccines from the standpoint of ‘time to develop’ until 2020. I just know they vaxxed me as a kid, and that you have to get vaccinated in order to travel to certain areas of the world. But still, there I was, suddenly ‘Mr. Ph.D.’ talking about the improbability of such a fast vaccine development. 😏

Truth be told, any text that carries scientific terms may seem legit to a layman such as myself. I have no framework to double-check scientific claims. Nor do I have time to read about how that shit works in order to confidently dispute it.

I also don’t simply “believe the experts”, since historically science has been wrong more often, than right. Science is iterative and totally capable of fucking up. Like many anti-vaxxers, I too have a built-in aversion towards authority. I also don’t eat animal products, I don’t use shampoo and douche gel, I don’t watch TV, I rarely drink alcohol, I’m into spirituality, … what I’m trying to say is that I could be your perfect anti-vax specimen. Me and nature, we are like one and stuff.

With all the confusing info out there, my decision to get vaccinated needed a different framework, a fresh view. I needed to spread my wings, fly like an eagle, and start looking at the forest, not the trees. So I tried.

The birds-eye view

What convinced me? It certainly wasn’t the trust of mainstream media, government, or big phallus. I despise these institutions, all while having respect for many of the people who work there. Just because there are capitalistic pieces of shit at the top of the corporate pyramid, I can’t simply apply the same scrutiny to all of the people who work there. These institutions are still comprised of millions of normal, decent people. Folks like you and me. So I made my decision primarily based on these parameters (in no particular order):

• history

• math

• drugs & booze

• tribalism

• expertise

1. History

Vaccines have helped us eradicate many fancy murderous diseases, none of which I can remember, nor will I google them to seem more credible. Some kind of pox? You see, eradicated. Vaccines gone did good. I also got one as a child, and fuck me, I am still alive. I kinda think being against vaccines in modern times is a privilege of a society that is already mostly vaccinated. The fact that most people are immune to certain diseases enables a few islands of people to not be, and remain perfectly healthy.

2. Math

Many people compare Covid-19 with the flu, but they are not to be compared. For two reasons:

1. Covid-19 it spreads way, way faster

2. Many people are already immune to the flu.

That means that if we’d just let “the vid” go wild, we’d see hundreds of millions of deaths, hospitals overflown with people, resulting in an even higher death rate than it actually has. And who knows what mutations might emerge. Flu does not spread as quickly, nor can it damage a predominantly immune society as much. Now, as I said, I am no expert, but maybe … just maybe it’s a bit fascist to let 100million+ people die. 🤷

3. Drugs & booze

At some point, I realized that I have acquaintances who are against vaccines, but who still regularly eat shitty food, participate in drinking, smoking and often dabble in drugs of a higher solid-state. Imagine raving in an underground party, high on horse tranquilizer, only to wake up and share how vaccines are poison.

Then it dawned on me … fuck, I too have probably eaten, drank, and snorted stuff worse than one vaccine shot. What am I afraid of? I have already risked my life experimenting with chemical substances. I too am a man of sin. Why not go for another spin? For mankind, they say. Let’s ride.

4. Tribalism, identity

Heck, I’d lie if my decision was not influenced by my tribe of people. Our identities are partially shaped by our peers, so things can get intricate. A year ago I still owned a bistro (rona got that one too, rip) and a lot of people there saw this as a vast conspiracy. I was confused, but I held my ground. Quietly, yes, like a little bitch, but ground I stood. Though, I have noticed the allure of the tribe. The magnetic power of conforming and not being cast out is quite strong. But now, in my new food-tech company, I am surrounded by the likes of microbiologists and people who actually understand science, so I feel safe in expressing my trust in the scientific consensus. Plus I’m certain my colleagues are yet to receive any cash-filled envelopes.

5. More math

Every time some journalist posts an article featuring a pro-vaccine doctor, you may notice comments like “I guess another one got the envelope” and others insinuating that they too have been bribed. Man, I would have loved to witness the meeting where Big Pharma briefed a team of people who bribed every single doctor, nurse, and journalist in the world to join the conspiracy. Sure, I don’t manage 30 million people, but I still think learning such organizational skills would benefit me greatly.

I know these institutions do a fair share of shady deeds, but it’s impossible to have so many people keep their mouths shut. You can’t even make a surprise party with 30 people without one snitching, how could millions of people keep quiet?

6. Expertise

I still believe in expertise. I think it’s dangerous to believe that all points of view are created equal. A long Facebook post by “Karen” must not carry the same value as the majority of scientists. It’s not like the experts are split 50/50. They are very much aligned. The number of experts who are pro-vaccine vastly outnumbers the ones who are not.

A person once even tried to convince me that this was a hoax, saying I should “look into my heart”. 🤔 The notion “hear all sides, then judge for yourself” is one of the pillars of societal collapse. Many also display double standards; when it comes to climate change, they will say “listen to the scientists”, but condone science when talking all things vax.

I could add a seventh parameter. Like, why do anti-vaccine “experts” quite often look like a truck ran over them, all disheveled and shit? And why do they always seem to record from shady, poorly lit rooms?

Sooo, I got the damn shot. Not without fear, but I did. I had a fever for a day. It was boring as shit. I knew my immune system would handle it. Plants, baby. I know it could also probably handle covid, but as one of my friends had the “long rona”, and remains kinda fucked, I’d just rather not. I don’t even want the sniffles, nor do I want the flu. And most certainly I don’t want whatever the fuck he got.

Civilized discussion or end of humanity

“What will kill us is our inability to reach a consensus”

- somebody, but can’t ‘member who

Getting back to the beginning. The way our governing institutions handled this is a joke, no doubt. I understand why many do not want the vaccine. We tend to judge anti-vaxxers by their most extreme and loud individuals, who claim this is a conspiracy to wipe out humanity or turn us into zombies via nano-robots and such (where my 5G people at?). But that’s not most of them. If we engage in civilized conversations with each other, we can clearly see rationality on each side. Alas, nobody likes being called names, nor do people like the feeling of being forced to do something to their body. We need to understand that fear of a chemical substance, which might cause severe side effects, is fucking rational. And some people do develop serious, I mean serious side effects. Even if chances are low, they are still chances. In reality, we are gambling with life. It’s a tricky matter.

Sorry to all religious believers in ‘facts’, but ‘having facts’ does not translate to desirable behaviors. We don’t make decisions rationally. Rationality is a tool, not a way of life. For most of our evolution, we have relied on irrationality to survive, not vice versa. We need to acknowledge that if we are to live in a sensible world.

And now, split 50/50, we seem to be tied in a Gordian Knot with no way of untangling. I personally think it would be ideal if able-bodied people get the shot. Out of all scenarios, this seems the most sensible way out in a reasonable time frame.

I closed my eyes, crossed my fingers, and bet on my fine-ass immune system to handle it. That was my choice. Call me naive, call me a hero. I am none. However, I am privileged enough to have had the time to obsessively read about it, to contemplate, and to have a healthy lifestyle in the first place, which dulled my fear of consequence. Most of my friends got one too. We are all alive and well. Months have passed.

I mainly think we have a problem with communication because that happens to be my only expertise (besides oatmeal). With their arrogance and lack of transparency, governing institutions lost their chance at trust. Mainstream media as well. But it’s not them I placed my bet on. I put my bet on the majority of experts. I trust them with my life because I know I don’t know better than they do. And I still have enough belief in human decency to bet that not ALL experts can be bought. I still believe most of them have ‘good for mankind’ on their mind. Their careers and reputations rely on helping people. Also, I have to trust someone. That is a fact. Who do I choose? A majority of experts who have dedicated their lives to micro-bitches, or those who finished Youtube University? Or should I perhaps “trust my heart”?

My achy breaky heart. I just don’t think he’d understand.