My parents are not full-blown COVID deniers or anti-vaxxers, but neither do they adhere to all the best practices. And on my last visit, they not-so-subtly raised questions about the vaccine (are you going to get it?). I wasn’t in the mood to really get into a full-blown argument/conversation, so I essentially put all vaccine skeptics into the category of people who think Bill Gates is trying to inject people with 5G tracking devices. They didn’t really like that comparison but didn’t have a response, either.
In any case, I get the feeling that they aren’t going to be super-proactive about vaccination, despite both being in significant risk groups, and being over 65–significant since California recently opened vaccinations to everyone over 65.
I’m considering telling them that I won’t visit until they’re vaccinated or I am. Which, effectively, means until they’re vaccinated since I’m in a very low risk group and it’s likely half a year until my turn arrives.
What say you? Any plans to do the same with friends or family?
Table stakes to get vaccinated. Otherwise, mask it up and meet outside.
To drive vaccination, there should be rewards such as being able to fly or kids being able to go to school. Make it really inconvenient to not be vaccinated by whenever it’s easy to get it.
I would, if I were in a position where that were possible. It wouldn’t even really be a choice, per se. It’s just a natural extension of not putting myself at risk before I’m vaccinated, and not putting them or others at risk either before or after I’m vaccinated. And I’ll have so many other people I can now be around.
Telling grandparent who refuse to get vaccinated that they won’t get to see their grandchildren isn’t a punishment, as I see it. It’s just keeping your kids safe. It’s just informing of them of the natural consequences of their actions. And since they presumably want to see their grandkids, it’s actually a kindness to let them know.
That said, I’m blessed in that basically everyone I know is not anti-vax. My sister does want to be careful due to her allergies, and I know of some people who are going to wait a bit until more data on pregnancy and allergy stuff is better understood, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to take it. At most, all it would take for anyone I know is a gentle reminder when it’s their turn.
I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. All of my close relatives and in-laws are pro-vax, but telling them that they couldn’t see the new baby until a month after they got caught up on their vaccines was enough to get everybody to check with their doctors and get stabbed.
They’re all highly motivated to get COVID vaccines, and at least one already has, so I don’t think it will be an issue at all.
Luckily, both sets of grandparents are pro vaccination, so it was not an issue then, and I don’t think it will be now.
The bigger issue, especially after vaccination, is going to be my partner’s parents resuming travel and life as usual without consideration of possibly being able to transmit an asymptomatic infection to us. My mother-in-law also has a habit of just booking visits without asking. (Not during Covid so far). So, if she’s vaccinated and we’re not, there could be some awkward conversations coming.
I am hopeful that it won’t be an issue for us. I know that my parents are eager to get vaccinated, and while I’m not sure about my wife’s parents, I think they probably will too.
I wouldn’t think of it as a cudgel, though. Just establishing rules for safety. We’re not doing inside visits with anyone until either they are vaccinated or herd immunity is reached and community spread is no longer a serious risk. If they want to wait until the latter, that’s just how it goes.
For some definitions of “unable,” yes. I mean, I have been visiting already. I do everything in my power to be safe, but it’s a risk.
That level of risk tolerance doesn’t change with vaccine availability. So the only reason for changing my own behavior is to use it as a cudgel. Which is fine by me.
My parents are masters of motivated thinking. My hope is that they’ll use this as an excuse to start ignoring the denialists. But we’ll see.
I don’t agree with this. In theory yes, an unvaccinated person poses the same risk whether they’re anti-vax or unable to get the vaccine. But an anti-vaxxer, or worse, a straight-up COVID denier is probably engaging in riskier behavior than someone who takes the pandemic seriously and is prevented from being vaccinated by forces beyond their control. So I don’t think the risk is the same.
Additionally, taking into account the choices people have available when making a risk assessment about seeing them, instead of just weighing the risks alone, is not the same as using something as a cudgel. Let’s set aside the availability of the vaccine for the moment and think about the past year, and imagine you had two dear friends or family members you wished to continue seeing in person. One of these was a healthcare or other essential worker with an unavoidably higher level of exposure. The other was able work from home, have everything delivered, and basically eliminate their exposure risk with a minimum of inconvenience, but chose to keep socializing as if nothing were happening. Those two might have the same exposure risk, but it’s not wrong to feel that it’s worth the risk to see the friend who can’t help it, and not worth the risk to see the friend who can’t be bothered to do all they can to keep you safe when you see them. That’s not using your absence as a weapon; that’s just using perfectly relevant information to decide which risks are worth taking.
I am not a vaccine skeptic at all, I believe that the biggest progress in medicine leading to a longer life expectancy in the last century was due to soap, antibiotics, better food and vaccines (not necessarily in that order). But I understand people who are wary of this vaccine because it has been developed so quickly. I hope they are wrong, but I can relate.
Still, as soon as I am eligible, I will take it. I hope it is a giant step towards life as used to be normal. I will ignore the risks because upon reflection the risks of not taking it seem orders of magnitude higher.
But there is nobody in my life I could cudgel, so this was not an answer to the OP. But if there was, I would. Specially if children were involved.
It sounds as though there is a clear assumption in this thread that vaccinated people are less a threat to spread the virus than unvaccinated people are. I thought that part was still not clear.
No, my prime concern is them. They’re the ones in the high risk group, and I’d rather not expose them to possible infection from me. I take all the precautions I can but there is still the risk of me having it. If they take the vaccine, the chance of me spreading it to them is lessened.
Granted, I did say “until they’re vaccinated or I am” originally. If I’m vaccinated and they’re not, and the vaccines don’t prevent virus shedding, then they’d still be vulnerable. But that’s somewhat theoretical, especially since they have access to the vaccine now and I won’t for several months.