One of the more... exasperating talking points of antivaxxers can be roughly summarized as follows:
"I'm not getting vaccinated because vaccines don't work!"
"How did you know they don't work?"
"Because you can still catch COVID after you get vaccinated! And you can still die! Look at Colin Powell!"
As typical of most bad talking points, there is a hint of truth to it, but there's also a lot of missing context.
Yes, you can get what's known as a "breakthrough infection" even after you are fully vaccinated for COVID. There are a variety of reasons for this.
As for Colin Powell (RIP), he has "multiple myeloma", a cancer of the plasma cells that affected the body's immune system, as well as Parkinson's. In other words, he's immunocompromised. His body's immune system did not respond to the vaccine and did not produce enough antibodies to protect him.
While the COVID vaccines provide protection against COVID, it is NOT an impenetrable shield. You should also mask up and avoid tight indoor spaces with unmasked people you don't know (who may or may not be infected) to present a multi-layered defense against COVID.
And this is what antivaxxers's point comes down to: "if it is not 100% effective I don't want it!"
In debate, this is called a nirvana fallacy or "perfect solution fallacy". If it's not perfect, it's not good enough.
They want something that would let them live normal life and not mask up and do all the stuff they usually do. Great, so do we. But WE DO NOT HAVE THAT!
And even if we do, they'll probably claim it's untested, unlicensed, un SOMETHING. They will play "no true Scotsman" and move the goalpost. Again and again.
But what's the TRUTH about breakthrough infections?
Yes, it can occur. But it is quite rare. If you are fully vaccinated, you are 6.1X LESS LIKELY to test positive for COVID, and 11.3X less likely to die from COVID, than an unvaccinated person. Yes, hospital tracks stuff like that. And they report to the CDC, and CDC has statisticians and computers that compiles all that into nice charts and graphs and reports.
As the booster shots just started, there are no stats on that yet, but I would not be surprised that the odds are even BETTER with booster shots.
But the logic is simple: do you use only ONE layer of protection, or do you use as many layers as practical that you can live with?
You wear your seatbelts in your car, your car has airbags, you drive safely, you are licensed, and you have insurance, right?
CDC is recommending that some people get a booster shot after 6 months. Let's go over the reasons:
1) Everyone's immune system is a little different. And no one EVER said vaccines are 100% effective.
2) Some people's immunity response wears off faster than others. This is known as "waning immunity". Those people need booster shots.
3) Some people who are immune-compromised don't develop enough antibodies. They also need booster shots.
4) Precautions are still necessary after vaccination. Being indoors in unventilated spaces with potentially infected people while unmasked can lead to high viral load that overwhelms your immune system, EVEN WITH vaccination. That's why you STILL should mask up.
You should not take any unnecessary chances with your body, and going without COVID vaccine is one of the unnecessary chances.
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