> "Getting vaccinated is easy but so is gaining weight. Losing weight is hard."

And accepting the risk of severe heart problems is harder for many people. Especially young athletic individuals who have no prior medical conditions. Similarly, gaining weight also takes substantial time. No one wakes up obese after one fast food meal.

>"There are massive campaigns by the government encouraging people to become more fit."

My point is in regards to media campaigns during COVID for people to become fit. COVID and vaccination have been constantly been reported for the past couple of years. Unvaccinated people have been ridiculed by the media. If they put the same level of pressure on the obese during this pandemic, then perhaps they may have been more incentivized to lose weight.

> "The vast majority of experts said it's safe and the chances of side effects are extremely low."

The majority of experts said AstraZeneca was perfectly fine... until its authorization for young people got revoked in several nations. J&J was considered to be safe by experts... until millions of doses were tossed out after it was discovered that the manufacturing facility was contaminated. Then it was revoked for young people, since:

"In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended prioritizing the Moderna and Pfizer shots over J&J’s because of its safety issues. Previously U.S. officials had treated all three vaccines similarly because they’d each been shown to offer strong protection.

But follow-up studies have consistently shown lower effectiveness for J&J’s vaccine. And while the blood clots seen with J&J’s shot are rare, officials say they’re still occurring."

And this is the issue. The "experts" did not catch this before - The follow-up studies did. Also note that there has been substantial pressure on doctors during the pandemic (several told me that their license could potentially be revoked if they say anything that contradicts the medical board). Check out what Dr. Kerryn Phelps (former Australian Medical Association president) said.

> "if it was as easy as "put the cookie down" almost no one would be fat"

But it is as easy as that. All it takes is a few seconds of mental reasoning - is obesity worth the sugar rush? If the media reported on obesity in the same light as it covered COVID, then perhaps people would take it more seriously. (Are there campaigns for obesity? Sure. But none are as serious and "spooky" as those they did to make people scared of COVID and encourage them to get vaccinated)

> "Finally have some empathy for people in a difficult situation that has a difficult solution."

If not overeating is considered "difficult", then I'm not surprised why this nation is failing.

> 'Something like "what if someone is skiing and breaks a leg. That was an optional activity so shouldn't I be angry?" Not to argue with myself but skiing is entertainment which has value'

And many young, fit individuals declined the COVID vaccine because of the value this refusal has - no side effects from the vaccine. You may argue that COVID has more serious side effects. However, the first variants were not as transmissive as Omicron, and provided that you took social distancing + masking (with a respirator) very seriously, then your chances of getting it would be much less. In other words, the cons of vaccination must also be compared with the probability of actually getting COVID (based on the variant) in addition to the probability of a serious side effect occurring.

Again, the risk varies for everybody. If an over 50 year old obese person with prior medical conditions denied the vaccine, then you could definitely argue that their decision may not be the best. But for young healthy adults?

I strongly believe that everyone should do whatever they can to keep themselves and others safe. However, when it gets to accepting a rare but serious risk, that is where individuals must have a choice. I don't find anything wrong with restricting public venues to the vaccinated only (watching football is not a fundamental human right). But mandating it for employees and disallowing testing? That is concerning.