But in the realm of healthcare there is always a trade-off in terms of public good vs. public cost. Having worked in medicine, I saw tremendous waste of resources and funds. Not so much in vaccine administration, but the Hep B shot is probably the one - maybe only example- of an inefficient way to use a vaccine for public health good. I call myself vaccine hesitant- I got the Covid vaccine but only after it had been out for a while and was finally FDA approved. By then I could see which one had the fewest side effects as well.
My dog and horse and cats get the vaccines they need. (My indoor cats do not get all of them as they are not exposed to certain diseases, but the outdoor cats will get more).
The most egregious waste of Medicare funds is in elder care, not vaccines. But there is an incredible profit motive at work in vaccines and pharmaceuticals, so that is a problem and needs to be considered. I guess I’m essentially a pragmatic person who is not sentimental about prolonging life at any cost. I believe in providing comfort and pain remediation but nursing homes and hospitals will definitely pad the billing for unneeded treatments or services, simply because they can bill Medicare.
Anyway, please know that just because a person is not keen on a certain vaccine, it doesn’t make them anti-vax. I was going to get the Zostavax years ago for shingles at age 57 but insurance didn’t cover it and it was about $250. I read the package insert and realized that its efficiency was roughly 60% for my age group so I decided not to pay for a near coin toss. The new one - Shingrix- is much more effective- I can recommend that one.
So I hope you can find it in your heart to see that I am not advocating for a libertarian hellscape, but a reasonable approach to healthcare where decisions are based on medical need, personal circumstances, public good, relative risk and valid scientific evidence.
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