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curl-6 on 17 November 2020
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SvennoJ said:
curl-6 said:
Nighthawk117 said:

They are unproven/unapproved as of today - 11/17.  Although I hear Putin has given the green light to Sputnik 5.

With the exception of Russia and China jumping the gun, the vaccines simply haven't finished human trials yet; by the time they're rolled out to the public, they will have completed full standard testing to prove that they are safe and effective.

Normally full standard testing a vaccine takes 10 years. These will be rolled out to the public long before that. Long term effects will be an unknown. But what's worse, pandemic or a small possibility of long term side effects. The good thing is, lots of different vaccines are in development so the chance of ending up in a global Children of men situation is zero. The chance one of them has unwanted long term side effects is there and can't be known until 10 years or more have passed.

Anyway the current situation can't be maintained. Vaccination is necessary, however not everyone needs to be vaccinated to drop the transmission rate below 1. The more the faster it gets under control, yet if Rt is 1.5, simple math says if half of people are immune, Rt drops to 0.75 and the virus disappears. A third is probably enough while sticking to mask wearing and social distancing where possible.

For travel you'll probably need a Covid vaccination record to get into countries which will solve the issue of bringing in new cases all the time.

Long term adverse effects are very rare; most side effects are short and medium term, and this is being tested through giving the vaccines to tens of thousands of volunteers who are then closely monitored over several months. The pace of testing and development may be accelerated compared to previous vaccines developed outside a pandemic, but all the same phases and precautions are being adhered to in order to make sure an unsafe product isn't released to the public. (Well, unless you're in Russia or China)

I for one am completely willing to roll up my sleeve for a COVID shot, so long as it has cleared all three phases of standard human trials.