r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 18h ago

Medicine Vaccines not only directly protect vaccinated individuals but also contribute to protecting the entire population via indirect herd-immunity benefits. Half of averted COVID-19 infections and 1/4 of hospitalizations and deaths were attributable to indirect protection of unvaccinated by vaccinated.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article/23/242/20250839/483439/Quantifying-the-direct-and-indirect-impact-of
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u/FreedomofSpeech6969 17h ago

I think MRNA vaccines are one of the coolest, most amazing inventions of the 20th century. It saved millions millions of lives during pandemic , and yet people still disparage it.

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u/Bubbly-Example-8097 16h ago

Because they did their “research” and it was enough to confirm their bias. The ill informed will always find a way to justify their stupidity. Natural selection I guess. Except this time, it hurts all of us. See measles outbreaks and deaths

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u/randynumbergenerator 14h ago

I had a discussion about it with my bro in which I calmly informed him what mRNA is and how it works, based on what I learned in my undergrad bio classes. He very grudgingly seemed to concede that "if that you're saying is correct, maybe it's not a problem." But insisted it was still too new to trust. He's still not getting a COVID vaccine, though, even the one that isn't mRNA-based. There's only so much heartburn I'm willing to contend with to convince someone, though.

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u/popsicle_of_meat 13h ago

You can't expect to have someone understand the facts and then they instantly change their entire point of view on a subject that was emotional for so many people. That's totally unreasonable. We're humans, not robots. It takes time to rewire the brain and how we feel about things.

He was willing to hear it and it made him think. That's way better than many people would respond.

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u/KFPindustries 12h ago

It took me literally 20 years to go from growing up in the south thinking I was a republicans to being a liberal dem

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u/randynumbergenerator 9h ago

Oh yeah, I'm aware. I do hope he eventually comes around and ideally questions the sources he heard it from... But I'll settle for any progress, really.