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My neighbor's only risk factor was that he was in his 70s. He was still working and would play 18 holes of golf every week, sometimes with my SO. He'd muse often that no way was the government or social pressure going to make him vaccinate. Look how many people got it even with the shots.


And then he went into the hospital. Pneumonia, ventilators and as of yesterday morning, he died. Just like that.


His wife is a bit older and has always been frail with genetic conditions. She's now in a walker around her house and utilizes a wheelchair beyond that. No kids. He was her only caregiver, and now he's gone. Just like that.


The original and ultimate point of the vaccines is cutting down on hospitalizations and deaths, not whether one will get it or not. A vaccinated and boostered person cuts their risk of death by 50 times that of an unvaccinated person.


We have shifted from a stance of pressuring people to get vaxed to now not really worrying about what our new mask-free existence, relaxed social distancing, etc. has on the health of the unvaxed. With a country approaching 98 percent 12+ vaccination, highly likely you'd catch it from a vaxed person. Most times nothing really bad will happen but it's still 50 times more likely that it will. And then your own life is gone. Just like that.

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At this point all the information is out there. There is no one with a decent education who cannot read the facts for themselves. I have entered into thinking this to be Darwinian. Those who don't get vaccinated are, yes, in more danger of dying. They likely don't vote my way either. Sorry, but after three years that is where I have ended up. I am fully vacced and I protect myself best I can in any crowded areas, and on I go. I cannot control the choices of others. I am still in contact with nurses still in practice. Yup, those who are dying are typically unvaccinated. You are correct.
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Sorry to say it but the most ardent antivaxers can not be convinced of any of it - I've actually read posts from people claiming that hospitals are murdering people with the virus in order to pander to "big pharma", the degree of misinformation and denial is incomprehensible.
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This is much like many other health matters where all of us can choose to do things to make our situation better, yet so many refuse. Obesity, diabetes, sedentary lifestyle, just a few of the many things where we can choose or not to make it better. I guess your neighbor left this world content with his choice. Hope his wife gets good help soon
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If at this point in time, someone wants to be willfully ignorant, that’s on them & I give zero F’s. But the real tragedy is the situation they leave behind…. For your neighbor, his older handicapped wife is now basically cast adrift. It was beyond selfish behavior on his part.
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In the last 3 months I've known 3 people who died from covid. All were unvaccinated, all had underlying conditions such as diabetes, prior smoking, obesity. Sometimes I think men wait too long to seek medical help (this is a generalization) and then show up in the ER already too far gone for treatments to be effective. Who knows: maybe your neighbor might have been a smoker in his teens until quitting at 40 but still long enough for permanent lung damage to have occurred. He may have been in denial about his risk level.

Then there's my husband: 64, unvaccinated and has not even been sick since 2019. He went on a missions trip to Turkey this past December and had to have PCR tests before traveling there and back, but in Turkey spent a lot of time without a mask and among many unvaccinated people. It's not that he was sick at some point in the past few years and didn't get tested - he has not been sick, period. I got original covid in March 2021, got the Pfizer vaccine in July, then (probably) got Omicron in early December (but didn't bother to get tested because there was no point). My eldest son (age 31, also unvaccinated and a smoker) has been mildly sick but never tested. His own elementary-aged son has had covid.

I think some people have some sort of natural immunity and I think some people have the opposite: an unknown biological Achilles heel when it comes to covid. We are all on a spectrum. Just like some people have a reaction to the vaccine enough that it kills them, but this is exceedingly rare. Nonetheless it has happened.

In May 2020 my MIL in LTC got original covid and was at death's door. Went on hospice and then had a rapid and full recovery. Her only underlying health condition was being 85. She was overweight, at 185 and 5'6". Nine other people on her floor died during that outbreak.

This morning I was power walking with my friend in the Mall of America (a gigantic mall). She has 2 twin grandsons who were born at 23 weeks and are now 15 months old but have compromised lungs and too young for the vaccine. My friend still has to follow rigid protection protocols if she wants to babysit her grandsons. It is very hard on her and her husband (because they still mostly socially isolate and don't dine out) and she has no idea when she can drive in a car with another person or stop wearing 2 masks while mall walking 6 feet away from me. Even if everyone else was following her protocol, she would still be doing it, too, because she wouldn't want to risk the lives of her grandsons, or not ever see them in person. So the wisest philosophy is to let everyone live as they choose and if you're someone at risk then you have to do what you must to protect yourself.

No one should be telling anyone else how to manage their health. Your neighbor had every right to reject the vaccine. Freedom isn't free because there are consequences to the choices we make. Everyone needs to calculate their own risks and live accordingly.
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Whether pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, this should serve as a cautionary tale: if you have someone who is dependent on you for care, be they small children or elderly family members, you need to make sure there are systems in place to continue with their care should you, the caregiver, die.

Time is guaranteed to no one.
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Excellent answer Geaton.
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The thing is "No man is an island". We are free to make choices. Let us remain aware that our choices affect others, whether is is nation wide obesity that sends health care costs up, drinking and driving that increases the risk of accidents that kill or maim ourselves or others, or not getting vaccinated which increases the risk of severe illness/death for us and of infecting others both healthy and vulnerable.
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And my dear sweet SIL died of Covid, fully vaccinated and boosted. On a ventilator, alone like a dog in the hospital, where nobody could even go visit her. She played by all the 'rules' so many are so fond of spouting, and STILL died.

Freedom of choice is, or was, what the U.S.A. has been built on.
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To add to Lealonnie1, I do think we care too much about vaccinated or unvaccinated. You can play by the rules and still pull the short straw, no one is fully protected from Covid.

Though some people are lucky or just built differently, I have no underline health issues, eat right, swim everyday and when I got covid I felt like I was going to die. I never felt worse. Roommate smokes, overweight, has a bevy of health issues also got covid same time. Man was fine barely had a cough, he was taking care of me during that time. This was prior to the vaccines.
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...

Everyone be well. Sorry for your loss, for everyone's loss. 💙
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My husband lost a good friend two weeks ago to Covid -- the first person we know who has died.

He may have had some health issues but we weren't privy to his medical history. However, it has come out that he was unvaccinated. I suppose it was his choice, but apparently he made that choice based on the advice of his wife, a NURSE with almost 40 years' experience.

Three kids, several grandkids left behind. He was only 61.

I don't know how that woman sleeps at night.
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The original and ultimate point of the vaccines was to STOP the virus, regardless of what you want to now believe.

Give it a break already.

You are entitled to your opinion, just like everyone else, regardless of how much you think they aren't.

People die every day and the misinformation on covid deaths is staggering. Over 880k annual deaths from heart disease in the US alone, I don't see you encouraging people to exercise, eat right or anything else, just follow and get jabbed and jabbed and jabbed with a genetic agent that NOBODY knows what the ultimate outcome for that will be.

Many people can't get the jab because of allergies, should they be shamed for not being sheeple and dying because they took a shot so you are right?

Everyone knows what you think about the jab, repeating it doesn't do any good.
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Isthisrealyreal, the whole point at the beginning was to get shots into people to prevent hospitalization and death, not the number of cases. It was known from the very beginning that J&J was only 71 percent effective but nearly completely effective in preventing the latter. That's actually why it got approved.

The point is, this guy did everything you said. He was big into vitamins and exercise. Chose to spin the wheel. Lost.
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No it wasn't Peggy, it was touted as an end to covid. You have been led to believe that what we were told early 2021 didn't really happen. I remember, as do other people.

Did you know that China isn't using the very genetic agents on their own people that our government is sticking into millions of it's citizens? The knew in December if 2020 that it wasn't effective and the long term results are unknown. So they won't subject their citizens to possible long term issues over an unknown.

Yet, here you are again trying to force your beliefs on people with differing opinions.

I am a believer that it doesn't matter what you do, when your number is up, bye bye!

I believe that people have the right to spin the wheel if they so chose with their life.

I believe that our elected officials have forgotten that they work for the people and that our nation is officially a third world country, thanks to their BS posturing.

I see a world that has millions of unjabbed and it isn't killing nations off. So, if the jab saves so many lives, why isn't Africa decimated? Why isnt India decimated? Just to name a few.
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I will say this, if I had the option to do it all over again and choose between not taking the vaccine verse taking, I would opt for not taking it. Call me ignorant, jaded, stupid, or a sheep. The truth is many especially us younger people took the vaccine because we were told it would allow us to go back to normal.

Yeah the normal has not come back here yet, I still have to flash my vaccine card, and wear a mask in some places. YAY for normal.
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Look everyone. I'm not saying he didn't have a choice. What I'm saying is that he exercised it in a way that caused his premature death. He had cared for his wife pretty much through their marriage and that was how it was gonna be, but for his decision.

Sure vaccinated and boostered people die. It's just at in his age range, about 50 times less of them die than the unvaccinated.

Putting it another way: When Omicron came through, the odds of one getting it was between a three of a kind and a flush. The odds of dying if vaccinated were like the difference between a royal flush and four of a kind if unvaccinated.

He and his spouse were each other's whole world. Now she doesn't have him. She would have had a 50x greater chance of being around still had he just gotten the shots.

Just because choices are choices doesn't make them necessarily the same in terms of wisdom or logic.
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The vaccine was developed to fight the original version of Covid, not the Delta nor Omicron variants, which is why it isn't quite as effective as they'd hoped in terms of preventing people from getting sick. It's like the flu vaccine when they take an educated guess as to which variant will be the dominant one in any given year. If they guess incorrectly, the flu vaccine will be effective, albeit less so than the variant for which it was developed.

Deaths for India or Africa are poorly documented because testing isn't done with any real frequency, so no one really knows how much the virus has affected the populations. They've reported about half a million deaths, but in reality it's thought that they've had closer to three million. The same goes for their reported numbers of cases -- they're far, far below reality. (All that information is easily found from reputable sources.)

Yes, in the end it's a personal choice. What's unfortunate it the "ain't no one going to tell me what to do" attitude that so many use to defend a choice that can ultimately end in your own death. It makes absolutely no sense. If it only hurt the person with that attitude, I'd have no problem with that Darwinian decision, but so many children are being deprived of parents and grandparents long before their time should be up. I don't believe in the "when it's your time, it's your time" if someone is smart enough not to walk in traffic but not smart enough to take a preventative vaccine.
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Peggy, you are assuming that it caused his premature death.

Statistics show that a caregiver has a 40% chance of dying before the person they are caring for. Maybe, the stress of it all tore his immune system down.

MJ, I am sure that everyone will willing take a preventive vaccine, if one is ever created.

Your reputable sources are putting a spin on the facts of what is actually going on.
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So you know for sure he died from COVID? At his age pneumonia is common and often fatal if he had any other possibly unknown issues. And yes I am vaxed x 3 and work in a hospital.. we are still seeing plenty of people dying daily,, and not from COVID.. Perhaps I am getting jaded here, but strokes, cardiac arrest and plain old other issues are still in play. Covid can hit anyone, vaxed or not,, but not to forget the other causes
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FWIW, Peggy Sue, I understand your point and I totally agree with you. I know quite a few people who died of covid. I know that vaccinated people can still get covid and still die of covid, but statistically, the chances of dying or ending up in a hospital are much less if you're vaccinated. I'm triple vaxed and if they offered another booster tomorrow, I'd take it. I still wear a heavy-duty mask (N99) indoors, but I wouldn't feel safe going anyplace if I weren't vaccinated. I am taking care of an elderly, medically fragile dog (that's Izzie in my profile pic, when she was several years younger). I can't afford to get sick. I wish your neighbor had had the same dedication to his frail wife.

That said, I started getting flu shots about 10 years ago, when I started taking care of my mother. I couldn't afford to get sick, and even more, I didn't want to risk giving it to her. I've never had the flu, and I've never had covid either. I'm willing to put up with some inconveniences and restrictions to keep myself and others safe.
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To Pam and isthisrealyreal,

Our neighbor mentioned to SO that he thought he might have a mild chest cold across his white picket fence. A few nights later, my other neighbor was kept awake by incessant coughing and hacking from next door. The next day, he went to that neighbor's house and asked for a ride to the hospital.

No one was allowed to visit after that. The hospital only has that rule around Covid.

I can't say how much caregiver stress had to do with his demise, but I didn't observe the masked desperation or isolation I've seen in so many caregivers. This was a social guy who'd ride his bike, ran a doggy daycare in retirement, and organizes neighborhood golf outings.

SO and I are boostered, but in fact did test positive around the same time frame as our neighbor did. We had no symptoms and wouldn't have known had we not tested ahead of a family gathering his immunocompromised mom wanted.

Had this neighbor and us been socializing in one of our houses or at a restaurant, I would be consumed with asking myself what if it were me who gave it to him? Ninety-eight of every 100 adults here are vaccinated--so most likely a vaccinated person gave it to him.

This is why it's hard to hang out with unvaccinated friends.

A bar or casino full of randos is one thing. There's less of a sense of responsibility. But when you know your personal friend is unvaccinated, then you want to take steps to protect them, such as masking, which makes them less likely to be your friend.
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Update on my neighbors' situation:

A nephew across the highway and his family are moving in with her so she can stay in the house. I mean, there is a house there so that probably is some of the motive, but for now it is a solution.
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I am sorry to hear this. We will be living with corona forever I do believe, and with its variations, which will continue with so many not vacced. It is up to each one of us whether or not we want protection. We are ALL likely to get it. The real question is whether we will die of it or not.
We are all going to have to make our own choices.
No government in the world can force this issue on a populace unwilling; so we will continue to lose a lot of people.
We are overpopulated, so there is that.
I currently have completely relaxed into knowing at 80 I will now be masked in public places, transit, and etc. for the rest of my life; I will vacc and make my own decisions about where I go, and let others worry for themselves.
All the information is there, now. I think that trying to force people to get protected works against getting them protected, forces them into their own corners.
Leave it to each individual and his or her MD is my way from now on.
As a retired RN I know nurses still working (and even one hospital administrator who is a friend); they are all exhausted if rich (lots of overtime). They are losing the ones without any vaccination. They are trying hard for each patient they have, but no longer have patience and/or time for explanations with families. It is sad to see.
Nurses are "bred" for this; much like soldiers, they are at their best in the fight with their buddies by their sides, but closing in on so many years, so many losses, some are now I believe we will begin to see some shortages in medical personnel worse than we are currently seeing.
Hoping for no new variant for a while.
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Most of us are familiar with the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). The US Department of Defense also has its own version of VAERS called the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS).

Quoting from an article, last month: "Attorney Thomas Renz testified under oath before Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, during a roundtable discussion on January 24. Mr. Renz, who is representing military whistleblowers, and citing DMSS data, said heart attacks increased 269% in the military in 2021 alone. Pulmonary embolisms (blood clots) increased 467%, neurological issues increased 1,000%, female infertility increased 471%, etc."

Quoting from the testimonial: "... 71% of new COVID cases are in the fully vaxxed, and 60% of hospitalizations are in the fully vaxxed..."

To read the article and watch the testimony, here's the link. Scroll down toward the end after the story about the unexpected death of a young sheriff.

https://thecovidblog.com/2022/02/16/aubrey-phillips-36-year-old-alameda-county-ca-sheriffs-deputy-dies-unexpectedly-on-duty-after-severe-medical-emergency/
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PeggySue - I am sorry about your neighbor's death. It's good that the nephew has moved in to take over the care of his frail and aging wife.

It could very well be that the neighbor died from COVID. Or he could have died from pneumonia; my mother died from that last month.

Hope everyone stays well.
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Thanks PolarBear.

His immediate neighbors including myself are all in the shock phase of grieving, really. We've all lost people but usually there was some heart procedure, or a cancer fight, or in some cases a dementia diagnosis. We're probably attuned to "the long goodbye" being more typical, which is why a guy with none of this comes as a collective shock.

SO met the family. They seem nice and their 7-yo is apparently already knows about our chickens. The child's parents seem sociable and frankly respectable. I really hope it works out for them.
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PeggySue - how many chickens do you have? I have 3 old hens. At various times, I've had between 1 and 13 chickens. Right now, just 3 aging non laying hens from 6-9 years old.

Last week, my 9 y.o. Easter Egger laid a green egg after almost 2 years of not laying. I was shocked. That's probably her one and only egg this year. We thought she was dying when she refused to leave the coop for almost 2 days.
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Polarbear, right now we have six layers. At one point we had 10. Only one of our chickens died of natural causes (slow decline/lash egg) the other ones got taken by raccoons.

Our other chickens are a Easter Egger (other one killed), a Buff Orphington (sister killed too), a RIR, a Marans (her sister was killed too) and a mutt with feathered feet (not a marans). It's nice frankly seeing the nephew kinda hint that he'd like his kid to interact with our chickens sometime with the kid vigorously nodding.
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And my YOUNG family members have died from the vax. What is your point?!
And BTW it is not unheard of for people in their 70's to just drop dead. Even when they live active lifestyles.
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