Sadly not the case. “The vaccine is untested, as any immunity that a vaccine gives you will be weaker than what you get from natural immunity. Your immune system will never get stronger unless you let it work. I’m gonna get COVID eventually no matter what, so I may as well get the good immunity without risking the side effects of the vaccine. It’s just a cold anyway, so I’m not risking much”.

That whole corner of the family is very ignorant and susceptible to misinformation. I’m just some guy who can explain things and show them CDC or WHO sources, which are unreliable and suspect. I don’t have the gravitas of a very confident tiktok creator or a podcaster.

I’m also a little salty at them because they were all excited to see my new twins until I asked if they could be up to date on their vaccinations since they were in the NICU (premature, all good now). Variously “my family will not get the COVID shot”, “the flu shot will give me the flu”, and “I shouldn’t need to get a Tdap booster, I’m tired of needles”.