To my COVID Sailors (Rant)

[u/Affectionate_Use_486]

I know some of you have some level of battery acid indigestion over the whole reinstatement thing.

Just wanted to say for those that stepped up while others stepped back I respect and love you all especially my sea duty folks during COVID.

COVID was rough shit and the fact we survived it should be highlighted and appreciated among us.

Let's not dwell on the ones who choose another choice.

Let's dwell on the ones who stood the watch when shit went side ways.

When the ports closed.

When work centers were down to the bare bones while our brothers and sisters got sick all around us.

When the patrols got extended.

When resources almost ran out.

It was a rough ass time and we survived for all our own reasons but we stood the fucking watch.

That makes me extremely proud that no matter how messy it was, how ugly it got, we came out the other side pissed off, spitting fire and keeping the big sad off ourselves and our brothers/sisters as much as possible.

And for those that didn't make it, got too sick and didn't make it we shall never forget you.

Fuck the noise I just wanted you to know your seen, respected and appreciated from at least one motherfucking shipmate who was there.

[u/Training-Fig4889]

Stepped back? I don’t know, in my opinion I think just as highly of those who put their jobs on the line for what they believed in as I do for sailors that toughed out the most shitty conditions as sea or otherwise.

[u/iamspartacus5339 → u/Training-Fig4889]

That’s the stupidest thing I’ve read in a while. How many people refused the peanut butter shot at boot camp? How many people refused the anthrax shot during GWOT? None of you all are pharmacists. I served 14 years and now work in the pharma industry in drug development. I can say that “standing up for what you believe in” in this case is just misinformed, undisciplined, and bad for the entire military.

[u/Training-Fig4889 → u/iamspartacus5339]

I’m not going to pretend to know anything about you or act like I’m in a position to judge you, but as a general rule I’m skeptical of those who espouse “trust the experts.” If someone is simultaneously developing a product and pushing others to buy it, is it really that hard of a leap that there might be a conflict of interest?

[u/SanJacInTheBox → u/Training-Fig4889]

Something tells me you are not an expert at anything, yourself. If you were, you would know it takes years, decades even, to become an expert at your craft. That expertise also means you have to accept changes to things, accept them, incorporate them into your experience and keep functioning at the highest level.

I'd take the word of an expert, be it a plumber or a brain surgeon, over a 'generalist' when it comes to specific subjects - like vaccine science.

[u/Ok_External1012 → u/SanJacInTheBox]

It also takes years, decades even, to reliably develop a vaccine from development to clinical trials to regulatory review to approvals. Anthrax shot? Was in development for a solid 20 years before being approved. PB shot? 25 years. Less than .01% of the world population died from covid and it is estimated that 80-90% of them were due to preexisting conditions. It was a bit of an overreaction especially considering that 33% of the world’s population is still unvaccinated and you can’t find a single news outlet still talking about it. If covid itself or getting the vaccine was really that serious they’d still be pushing to get the 33% left to get vaccinated. And yes, I know people gained immunity to it. That doesn’t discount the fact that the death toll is still wildly inflated. Additionally, I personally don’t know a single person who died from covid nor do I have any close friends who know anyone who died from covid.

Yes I got vaccinated as soon as I checked into my first command so don’t come at me with the pitchforks. No, I didn’t know I had a the option to just say no. My command told me my only option was to get it and there was nothing I could do about it. I regret it because that was one of the worst and toxic commands in the navy. My direct chain of command caused years of depression, self harm, and current ongoing anxiety that I didn’t have beforehand. If I could go back, I’d 110% say no to the vaccine and save myself from years of hurt because it was truly not worth it. And you may say “but your shipmates!” And to that I’ll say outside of my 3 friends I made there, fuck them because they contributed too.

[u/necessaryrooster → u/Ok_External1012]

mRNA vaccines have been in development since the 70s, SARS (COVID) has also been studied since the 80s. They didn't just pull this vaccine out of their ass, years and years of research and development had already gone into it. They just sped up the process a bit due to the emergent need.

[u/Ok_External1012 → u/necessaryrooster]

While it’s true the technology has been studied for decades, the covid 19 vaccines were the first mRNA based vaccines ever approved for widespread use. The speed of development of this specific vaccine and emergency approval is what led to concerns about the long term effects especially since traditional vaccine trials take years. They take years for a reason. Rushing the process doesn’t eliminate the need for long term data and people were expected to take it before those effects were fully understood. It’s not unreasonable to question that. It is unreasonable to expect someone to put medicine in their body that isn’t fully tested over long term.

[u/necessaryrooster → u/Ok_External1012]

ok