Four months after the first COVID vaccine shot was administered to a nurse in New York City and only 30% of Alameda County is fully vaccinated. Priority tiers and limited vaccine supply notwithstanding, a poll released on March 30 through Kaiser Health News reported that when asked if they were planning to become vaccinated, nearly 40% of adults replied they would "wait and see", "only if required" or "definitely not."
As supervisor of a district heavily impacted by COVID, I am deeply concerned that despite overwhelming evidence of vaccine safety and efficacy there remains a debate around the value of getting vaccinated.
This week Alameda County expanded vaccine eligibility to include persons 16 years or older, approximately 82% of our total population. It is my sincere hope that everyone in a position to get the vaccine does so. It is our responsibility as community members to take part in achieving community immunity.
The vaccine rollout was imperfect and left many feeling that the process was disorganized and inequitable. Socioeconomic barriers including language access, shifting goalposts from the state and deep-seated mistrust of the system stood between me and my constituents obtaining the vaccine.
However, we know much more than we did a year ago and with the logistical kinks getting worked out, the Oakland Coliseum set to remain operational and 6,000 doses of vaccine coming from the state daily, Alameda County is poised to return to a state of equilibrium soon.
I always harbored a strong desire to get vaccinated. Consistent encouragement from trusted messengers combined with the faith that a relatively small action on my part could bring us back to a place of safety, an improved economy and opportunities for joyous gathering led me to my first shot, and then my second.
The pandemic can create an environment of powerlessness, but I found real empowerment in protecting my health and the health of those around me. In a time of distanced interaction, awareness that this protection would ripple outwards, beyond my bubble, helped me feel connected to my community and proud to contribute to overall community safety.
The fact is, having the option to be vaccinated is a privilege which millions of people currently do not have, and Alameda County now enjoys a fortunate position for widespread, effective vaccine distribution.
Each vaccine boasts between 86%-95% efficacy against symptomatic disease and 100% efficacy against death from COVID in vaccinated people. This statistic bears repeating: 100% efficacy against death from COVID.
In this moment, we are quite literally holding our own lives and the lives of others in our hands. As interconnected individuals, we must accept that now more than ever our actions have consequences.
Please, take the safety and health of others as seriously as you take your own by choosing to get vaccinated.
Editor's note: Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley represents Pleasanton, East Oakland, Castro Valley, El Portal Ridge, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview and Montclair on the Board of Supervisors. Miley received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with his first dose on March 3 and second on March 25.
Comments
Registered user
Del Prado
on Apr 15, 2021 at 9:13 pm
Registered user
on Apr 15, 2021 at 9:13 pm
I wish everyone believed and got their vaccine shots, but in reality, there are those that have looked at it as a political position of resistance even when it comes to masking...
The majority will prevail and get protected, while those that choose not to will have to deal with what may come.
Registered user
Avila
on Apr 18, 2021 at 2:03 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 2:03 pm
1) The average vaccine takes 7-14 years to develop. This was made in under 6 months
2) This isn't a normal weakened virus type of injection; it's a RNA type of shot which is unprecedented for the masses
3) For anyone under 50 and healthy the virus has less than a .02% chance of any fatality (CDC data). In addition, CDC data shows the flu is MORE deadly for humans under 20 years of age.
4) Companies like J&J and Pfizer have a shady pasts (ie: putting carcinogenics in baby powder). The proven vaccines we take for granted had many long term effects at initial trials and we have NO idea the long term effects of this RNA shot (ie: a decade from now)
If you wanna get the injection, by all means, but don't virtue signal or guilt others without critical thinking or considering what's best for the young/healthy masses.
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Apr 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm
@buklau,
Stop spreading misinformation and anti-vaccine garbage. I'm very glad your other post was removed because it was completely nonsense and was categorically false.
You're being used by anti-vaccine propagandists and foreign trolls with ulterior motives. Anti-vaccine zealots have been increasingly recruiting from the political right lately. (Website removed)
The Russians are spreading misinformation about western vaccines so that their own vaccines will get picked up in the developing world and just to cause trouble.
Don't fall for it.
Registered user
another community
on Apr 18, 2021 at 6:53 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 6:53 pm
I'm vaccinated, but getting vaccinated is a personal choice. It would be nice if everyone was vaccinated, but it's a free country. Trying to force people to get one will have the opposite effect. It is virtue signaling. Hopefully... herd immunity.
Registered user
Downtown
on Apr 18, 2021 at 7:07 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 7:07 pm
There is a ZERO % chance that anyone in our family will be be injected with a vaccine developed in under a year by pharmaceutical companies that have received full immunity from any lawsuits or legal action resulting from their their poison. I trust my immune system more than this nonsense.
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Apr 18, 2021 at 8:06 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 8:06 pm
@Guillermo M,
How much testing has SARS-CoV-2 had in human populations? What are the long term effects? What are the morbidity and death rates of the virus? I'll take the vaccine over the virus any time. It is a novel corona virus that has already killed over 3 million people and is still spreading worldwide.
Go ahead and choose not to get vaccinate if you don't want to. It is a free country, Hopefully, enough of us will get vaccinated and we'll reach herd immunity. But just don't do like "buklau" above and spread misinformation, or you will get called out.
Registered user
Birdland
on Apr 18, 2021 at 9:16 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 9:16 pm
BobB. You finally said something correctly. It is a free country. People have freedom of choice. It is about time you give it up and let people make their own decision. You are not all knowing. Leave it alone and let people make their own choices.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Apr 18, 2021 at 9:47 pm
Registered user
on Apr 18, 2021 at 9:47 pm
Getting vaccinated for coronavirus isn't virtue signaling -- Getting vaccinated is being a virtuous citizen. Not everyone has a strong immune system and we don't know who is vulnerable. Getting vaccinated can help slow the spread, save lives, and prevent hospitalization.
An example of virtue signaling would be not wearing a mask when grocery shopping. There is a difference.
Registered user
Avila
on Apr 19, 2021 at 3:55 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 3:55 pm
Bob doesn't believe in freedom of choice. Notice how he didn't address any of my specific points, but rather just spams 'misinfo.'
If he wants to get this big pharma shot, by all means. 10 years from now we'll know the longterm side effects, but we have no idea what they are right now.
The most illogical part: if he's vaccinated then he's good. So why does he need everyone else to be injected if he's immune via the vaccine?
He must not have full confidence that the shot is protecting him?
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Apr 19, 2021 at 7:41 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 7:41 pm
No buklau, it doesn't work that way. No vaccine is or has ever been 100% effective. No one has ever had 100% immunity to any infection. This is typical anti-vaccine nonsense. A vaccine doesn't have to 100% to be a good vaccine. You need to read about herd immunity and how vaccines have helped get us there for many dangerous diseases like small pox and polio. You also need to understand there are people who either can't get a vaccine (for legitimate medical reasons), or have immune systems that won't respond to them. Consider someone who is undergoing a cancer treatment that compromises her immune system. That person has to rely on us for protection. If we can sufficiently slow the spread of the disease to the point that exposure is very rare, we can potentially save that person's life.
As to misinformation, yes you had posted anti-vax nonsense about vaccines affecting people's RNA. It was complete nonsense and Pleasanton Weekly deleted it, much to their credit.
Registered user
another community
on Apr 19, 2021 at 8:49 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 8:49 pm
The vaccine doesn't stop you from getting Covid. It stops you from getting seriously ill. People are getting Covid after their second shot, including a co-worker of mine -- who is 38. Even a lot of people in the medical profession (doctors and nurses) are refusing the vaccine. I disagree with them, but it's their choice. People who try to force you against your will are overbearing and tyrannical. And a pain in the ***.
Registered user
Birdland
on Apr 19, 2021 at 9:21 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 9:21 pm
Perhaps someone here or the PW can help us all understand what is occurring here: Is BobB the ultimate authority on this subject to the point that no one is allowed to have an opinion based on their research? Does BobB get to decide who is censored and who is allowed to be heard? Does the PW censor those commenters he doesn’t agree with?
Perhaps this is the tactic- to limit and censor those that don’t hold the approved talking points by labeling them, demonizing them, and claiming they are disseminating misinformation.
This is a dangerous road to travel down.
Registered user
Village High School
on Apr 19, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 9:44 pm
No Jake Waters, people who post things that are not only categorically false, but dangerous (like the nonsense about changing peoples RNA) does need to be taken down, and not because I say so. It is because it is false and dangerous. There is no truth to it, and it may cause people to take actions to harm themselves and others.
@Jennifer,
If your children haven't received all the required vaccinations, they won't be allowed to enroll in California public schools in the fall. That isn't tyranny, that is just good sense. Those laws protect us all, and they have been upheld by courts going all the way to the supreme court for more than a 100 years. Look up Jacobson v. Massachusetts from 1905 (7-2), and Zucht v. King from 1922 (unanimous) for reference.
Registered user
another community
on Apr 19, 2021 at 10:06 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 10:06 pm
Bob -- Our three "children" are college educated, happily married home owners (young adults). Thanks for making me feel younger! The point we're trying to make (that will never get through to you) is you can't control others. You're a control freak. You need to "own it."
Registered user
Avila
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:02 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:02 pm
What bob is saying is that all your children *need* to get this 1 year old vaccine in order to participate in society (ie: go to public school). What bob isn't telling you is that: The risk of complications for healthy children is higher for flu compared to COVID-19.
source: Web Link
^word for word search that statement in this cdc link.
Ultimately bob is afraid and wants all children to get this vaccine in order for him to feel safer. He doesn't want your families to have a choice.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:03 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:03 pm
@Jennifer,
I do "own it". Laws requiring vaccines have been upheld by the supreme court for more than a century. We can control others. That's what a law does.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:05 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:05 pm
Buklau stop spreading anti-vaccine nonsense and you won't get censored.
Registered user
Avila
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:05 pm
Registered user
on Apr 19, 2021 at 11:05 pm
I posted a CDC link. Since when is that nonsense to you?
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Apr 20, 2021 at 8:42 am
Registered user
on Apr 20, 2021 at 8:42 am
buklau,
I didn't say the CDC was nonsense. What I said was nonsense was the business about changing the RNA in a person's cells. That was complete nonsense and it is sad that such misinformation is out there.
What you left out from the CDC site was:
"However, infants and children with underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for both flu and COVID-19."
and
"School-aged children infected with COVID-19 are at higher risk of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare but severe complication of COVID-19."
Children and adults both should get flu shots.
Children under 16 aren't yet approved for coronavirus vaccines, so they can't get it yet. My college age son had gotten his first jab already, and it may be required for returning to campus this fall.
Bottom line is that children should get all required vaccines (DTAP, MMR, ...) or they won't be allowed to return to school.
This is not tyranny. This is the will of the people. State and federal courts have upheld these laws for more than a 100 years.
Registered user
Birdland
on Apr 20, 2021 at 9:00 am
Registered user
on Apr 20, 2021 at 9:00 am
BobB. Please give it up. There are many different opinions. You should keep yours to yourself. Everyone knows where you stand and are tired of hearing your boring mantra Wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance and my favorite feed a cold starve a fever. Please BOBB give it a rest. You are becoming as wearing as napoleonic Fauci
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Apr 20, 2021 at 9:24 am
Registered user
on Apr 20, 2021 at 9:24 am
John you are a troll
Registered user
Birdland
on Apr 20, 2021 at 11:52 am
Registered user
on Apr 20, 2021 at 11:52 am
Enough of the insults BobB. Right back at you. Wear a mask, wash you hands, socially distance, feed a cold, starve a fever. Only a troll like you would think we care about your opinion.
Registered user
Castlewood
on Apr 20, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Registered user
on Apr 20, 2021 at 12:50 pm
I agree with BobB and very much appreciate his posts to counter the garbage information that anti-Vaxers spread. The reason it took a year to approve the mRNA vaccines is because there are decades of research and clinical trials behind them. Let’s celebrate and be thankful of advances in science.
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Apr 22, 2021 at 6:50 pm
Registered user
on Apr 22, 2021 at 6:50 pm
Thanks for your comments Kevin. I'm doing what I can. I was also glad to hear that my son's college is requiring everybody to get the vaccine if they plan to be on campus.