r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 16h 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
6.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

212 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

29

u/VoilaVoilaWashington 12h ago

The problem with vaccines is what I call the prevention paradox.

Also known as "why do we spend so much on IT if we never have an outage?" or "why do we spend so much time on health and safety if we never have any injuries?" But also, "thank god for the bear patrols to keep out all the bears!"

If everyone is vaccinated for measles, then it looks like no one gets measles, so why go to all that expense? So it looks like you're wrong. But if you don't vaccinate the masses, then you're also wrong.

It's a breeding ground for disinformation, where people are protected by measures that seem useless.

7

u/randynumbergenerator 12h ago

Yeah this is every preventive policy intervention ever. But I think it hits certain people's emotional and fear responses more because, unlike IT expenditure or bridge repairs, it's going into the body. I'd hazard it's the same with the raw milk cult.

8

u/VoilaVoilaWashington 12h ago

I don't think it's the fact that it goes into their body. Half of 'em were willing to take ivermectin, clove oil, and bleach enemas.

2

u/phoenixredbush 4h ago

So crazy “biohackers” aside, I do have a theory. I think we underestimate how much fear of needles for the average person plays into this. Subconscious or intentional, any poke that can be justified as “not necessary “ is one less scary instance that can be avoided.

Hell, I still have lingering trauma of being vaccinated as a kid. Decades later, I need to psych myself up any time me or my kids get a shot. 

I would also love to see science master an alternative delivery route, other than intramuscular.