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There are a lot of conspiracy theories going on about the vaccines and Covid. I was all set to get my vaccine in a week, then a woman I used to be friends with said she wasn’t getting one. It made me start thinking and then I read some comments on YouTube about how the vaccines are just part of some greater plan for people in power to control us. I’m creeped out. I’ve been creeped out for a while now because people want me to take antipsychotic medication and it’s making me unhealthy. I’m so creeped out by this world lately.

Get the vaccines. They’re safe.

You know the conspiracy theories are just a bunch of garbage.

YouTube comments are probably the least trustworthy way to get information about anything. You are just reading the personal opinions of completely unqualified people, who have nothing better to do than whine in the comments section of a video.

How do you think a vaccine is even a way to "control" people? Do you also avoid getting flu and tetanus shots, and think they're a way to "control" people?

People in power are always trying to control us and there will be other ways for them to do that. I don't personally think vaccines are about control, it might help governments control borders and track people more easily as a by-product but I believe vaccines are primarily about seizing a golden opportunity for certain people and organizations to make an enormous amount of money.

The most important question you have to ask yourself is, are they safe? Some people will tell you they are, others will they tell you they aren't. You have to do your own research and use your own intuition as to who to trust.
I haven't been vaccinated yet but there's clearly a majority of people my age who have.

Yeah I think it is like everything else, about money. But they haven’t been studied for very long so I worry if they could have any negative effects say, in 10 years time. But whatever. The antipsychotic medication I’m on will most likely give me health problems somewhere down the road anyway.

These vaccines cannot possibly be described as safe full stop until long term side effects can be ruled out. That's obviously going to take time to assess. You could say they are probably safe and that, for certain people, it's more of a risk not to have the vaccine, but to say they are safe - end of story - is just factually wrong.

Not sure if you're American or not, but it's my impression that it's much more of a political decision over there as to whether or not to have it. If you're a Democrat you're most likely to 100% believe in this vaccine and the opposite is true if you're a Republican. There will be exceptions of course, but generally speaking that's how it appears to be in that country with no room for any meaningful discussion or consideration of alternatives.

Here in the UK, there is very much a divide among people on the right. There aren't many people left on the left to have much of voice either way,

I’m in Canada and officials say they may lift restrictions as long as 75% of Canadians get vaccinated. At least that’s what is in the description of the YouTube video I watched some of. So I mean this is a news channel. But of course what creeped me out more is all the conspiracy theorists in the comment section. They’re doing a better job of fear mongering than the news!

My husband and I are fully vaccinated, and never had any doubt that we would be. Of course, we are both over 65 so that changes the decision somewhat. I believe that the risk-vs-benefit ratio, even for younger people without pre-existing medical conditions, tips in favor of getting the vaccination and avoiding the coronavirus. After all, there are a number of deaths even among children and teenagers. And "long haul syndrome" is more serious if you have 50 or more years to live, than if you are "over the hill" already.

In such a noisy media environment, I urge you to pick who you will view as experts or at least, people whose judgment you trust. Then disregard comments from random people, who may or may not be anyone you would trust if you did know them well. In my case, having been trained as a scientist, I trust scientists. I do not trust pundits and I do not trust politicians.

Which scientists though? They don't all agree. The Lancet published a paper ruling out a lab leak, it's main rival last week published a paper signed by the leading figure in the field that a lab leak was entirely plausible. So people who were dismissed as cranks for suggesting it was a lab leak are apparently cranks no longer.

For what it's worth, my elderly mother has had both shots of the vaccine with no issues whatsoever. Younger brother had it and never felt so bad in his life, it really scared him and he's having second thoughts about having another one. I've had the virus, was very ill with it but not to the point where I required any medical intervention. I'm reasonably confident I'll be immune to catching it again or any variant for at least a year, probably much longer unless there are mutations that become as different as Sars-1 from 13 years ago to the original strain of Covid-19, which is apparently 30% and still said to be recognisable to the immune system of those who had Sars-1. Current variants are said to be 0.3% different to what first emerged from Wuhan, but I can only accept these figures in good faith, I'm not able to do the experiments myself.

There is the hypothesis that vaccinating in the middle of a pandemic creates an arms race with the virus and makes the situation a whole lot worse. It's not apparently normal practice to do this, in which case we are taking novel preventative steps to defend ourselves against a novel virus. It's a horrible situation all round and wondering what's best for ourselves and our families only adds to the anxiety.

Well, I was primarily addressing my remarks to SarahSmith, and recommending she pick her authority figures (but I didn't say they had to be scientists) and then ignore all the noise.

As for "which scientists" - I am prepared to accept the FDA and the CDC, because I generally trust those as authorities. I'm not trying to exhaustively consider all alternative sides - I don't have the energy for that in any case.

Can't blame you for being troubled about it with how much fuss there is for and against the vaccines; it can be hard to tell apart trustworthy and untrustworthy sources of information. There are always risks to any vaccines and medications, but from what we know so far, the risks of the covid 19 vaccines seem to be way smaller than letting the virus rage on in the society. It's true that the vaccines haven't been studied that long, but with this being a pandemic, more resources have been put in to studying it, which partly makes up for the lack of time. Also, from what I've seen of statistics, I'd see it safe to say that one has a higher chance of getting a serious version of covid 19 (if they catch it) and possibly getting bad after effects from it than getting bad side effects from a vaccine.

Just something for you to think about, Sarah. In the end it's your choice.

Oh, and personally I've gotten the first shot of Moderna. My arm hurt for a few days afterwards, but other than that, I'm fine. My mom has gotten both shots, don't know which type, and all she got was a aching arm for a few days, too. Same with my coworker who has gotten the first shot of Pfizer. We're all of different age groups, yet we're all fine.