When you were in your 20's, would you have taken the Covid vaccination?

[kentuck]

I remember how independent and invincible I felt when I was that age. i don't know whether I would have taken the vaccine or not?

But when we are older and more vulnerable, it is easier to criticize those that refuse to take the vaccine. Not only are we protecting ourselves, we do not wish to infect others if we get the virus.

I am not surprised that there are so many refusing to take the shots. It doesn't help that some sick politicians have encouraged people to not take the shots. But, there would be plenty that refused without help from the politicians.

I don't know how many of the Woodstock generation would have taken the vaccine? Were they really that different from the present generation?

[Demsrule86]

1. Yes, I would have taken the vaccine as I had a brain even in my 20's.

My kids in their 20's took the vaccine.

[LiberalArkie]

2. Yes.

I was so used to getting shots at school and dr's office they just never bothered me.

[dhol82]

3. Yes. I had read about the 1918 epidemic.

I wasn’t stupid.

[piddyprints]

4. Yes.

I have a cousin who had measles as a baby that left her cognitively impaired for life. There was no vaccine then. She can never live alone. I have never though of myself as invincible. Then again, I almost died so many times as a child that I am extremely risk-averse.

[alphafemale]

5. Probably. It is to protect the pack, after all.

And with as easy as it is?

And free?

[tanyev]

6. I might have been hesitant at first, but the way this rolled out,

with older groups getting vaccinated first, I think by the time I became eligible I would have been ready. Maybe even anxiously ready.

[Hugin]

7. I would have, but, I caught something back then that kills way more people...

Than survive. Which now has a vaccine available.

I don't fuck around with the dice.

BTW, this is the number one reason, I don't want to catch the 'rona at all. Even though, "I won't get so sick."

[-misanthroptimist]

8. I probably would have.

Hundreds of thousands had already died by the time the vax became available to that age group. So, COVID isn't a predicted problem, but an obvious and actual danger to everyone.

[kentuck]

9. I do remember this:

https://www.neh.gov/article/elvis-presley-set-example-getting-his-polio-vaccination

[Boomerproud]

10. If there had been a world wide pandemic going on...yes.

No brainer.

[Jim G.]

11. Absolutely

They didn't even have microchips when I was a kid.

[Hugin]

13. They had vacuum tubes.

Those babies sting going in.

[Texaswitchy]

23. I have two radios.

Those tubes are big.

[Texaswitchy]

12. Hell yes.

I was never stupid.

[luv2fly]

14. Maybe, and you are right

At that age people do feel invincible, and it's very possible I wouldn't have taken the vaccine either. I never had a flu shot until this last year, as I felt it was unnecessary.

[Glorfindel]

15. Absolutely. I got drafted at age 20

and received every vaccination known to humanity, plus several more prior to going to Vietnam. I was also brought up hearing stories from my parents about the 1919 Spanish flu epidemic and collecting dimes for the March of Dimes against polio.

[ashredux]

80. Yep. Me too...didn't ask ya, didn't get a chance to or not

[sarge43]

100. Yeah, after the boot camp five at a time hit, one more? BFD

Even then I'd read enough history to know what a pandemic could and would do. And polio, I was exactly the right age to get it and my mother's absolute relief when that vaxx became available.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

181. Same here, but there were no needles.

Hydraulic guns shot the vaccines into arms without using needles. Not bad, except for those few who flinched: they bled, got patched up, and had to get the vaccine again.

I was a test subject during the Salk polio vaccine trials. After the trial, my parents were told that I got the vaccine, not the saline, so I didn't need another shot.

[if..fish..had..wings]

16. Of course

I had read Tuchman's A Distant Mirror

[Walleye]

17. Yes we would have gotten vaccinated. The Woodstock generation is also the polio generation.

We were stupid in a lot of other ways. But we almost always believed in medicine and science. Whether we always practiced it or not is another story. I don’t think the younger generations really understand what polio was like and what a relief it was to get that vaccination. I felt just as relieved when I got the Covid vaccination

[Demsrule86]

91. I don't think the Woodstock Generation was stupid...I believe their idealism fueled what is good

today in this country...I miss the positive thinking and the belief that we can change our world for the better. I still believe it myself.

[Walleye]

94. Thanks. I still believe it too.And I seriously miss the idealism that defines America

[lark]

101. Me too, it is very sad the selfishness that the right wingers are preaching as a good.

It's evil and so are they.

[agingdem]

18. absolutely!

I remember polio summers and the fear in my mother's eyes...as a 6 year old I remember standing in line with my classmates, trying not to cry, and the ice cream bar as a reward after the needle...vaccines, inoculations, boosters...thank you science and physicians, but mostly thank you Big Government for keeping me healthy...

[lark]

106. Yep, my generation (probably the same as yours) definitely believed in science.

Our whole family was so happy when the polio vaccine came out, then measles & mumps. We couldn't wait for our school to get the supply and to line up and get the sugar cubes or shots. I had had a terrible case of German measles (105 temp) and it messed up my eyes, so our family was super aware of the need for the vaccine because you could get the measles more than once. Polio then was super scary too, so many died or were disabled for life.

Get the fucking vaccine. Take someone to get it if they need transportation. We all need it!!!

[Mysterian]

19. Even as stupid as I was back then...

I wasn't so stupid to not get vaccinated.

[UpInArms]

20. I had a brother-in-law who had polio

and science has been exceedingly successful in beating back some of the most horrific diseases …

If a vaccine had been developed to prevent AIDS, I probably would have taken that also …

[Throck]

21. I worked in the tropics.

I got a whole lot of vaccines and immunizations that were not standard in the US. I got boosters for all my childhood vaccinations. This is SOP for military and government employees. The big difference is all of those shots were time proven.

Keep in mind the first year the polio vaccine came out there were problems and the vaccine gave kids polio.

I reluctantly got my Pfizer shots. I wanted to go back to work and see my mom again. I have concerns that the vaccine is still in its early stages and sometimes vaccine 1.0 might have problems. Trump could screw up a free lunch and anything started by him I question. I'm up there in age and have led a full life so if there is an issue with the vaccine let it hit me first, then let science fix it for the better good.

[kentuck]

27. I am of a similar thought...

The vaccine is in its early stages, and there could be problems associated with it. But, I felt it was better for people my age to take it and try to protect the younger generations from something that could be very horrible. We can be brave and daring when we are older.

[Throck]

42. Drinking bourbon prevents Covid

Two shots a day.

I'm living proof.

[ShazzieB]

144. Not funny. 😑

[usaf-vet]

74. Aah... YES the YELLOW FEVER shot. Now...back then that was a shot. Anyone in the late 60s....

..... and early 70s who did Basic training at Lackland AFB knew it as the "water cooler shot".

When you got the shot you thought.... well that was no worse than any other previous shot UNTIL you walk to the exit of the building. Right there was a water cooler. At that point it HIT. It felt like someone had ripped your arm off.

[Walleye]

99. They have been researching the mRNA vaccines for years

[LeftInTX]

134. Polio and Covid are apples and oranges....

Polio is surprising not extremely contagious and many cases are asymptomatic...However, we all know how horrific polio is.

Covid is in the same spectrum as influenza and colds. I gladly took my risk with a Covid vaccine....Any Covid infection from a vaccine would be meh......

And I feel really for those kids who got polio from their immunizations.

[highplainsdem]

22. Yes. Because of how bad Covid-19 can be. And I'm saying that even

though I eat right, take supplements, exercise, haven't taken or needed a prescription in more than a dozen years, and have never had a flu vaccine or felt they were necessary for me.

I did wait a bit longer than I had to this year to get the Covid vaccine because other people in my age group probably needed the vaccines more and I didn't want to try to get to the front of the line. But once it was clear there was plenty of vaccine, I got the Pfizer shots.

[Bluethroughu]

24. Yes, if it was free.

I was low on cash back then. I know I'd wait until some people take it and were fine, then I would have taken it.

[BlueJac]

25. Yes!

[Groundhawg]

26. My dad passed away from the experimental "Cutter vaccine" for polio, so at that time, no way i would

have taken the Covid vaccine. Now they are light years ahead of the Cutter incident i would gladly take the C19 vacinne.

[Scrivener7]

166. I'm so sorry. I didn't know about this. What a horrible thing.

[MontanaMama]

28. Yes. I might have procrastinated

because kids feel invincible but my dad would have dogged me hard until I got it.

[In_The_Wind]

29. Yes

[PJMcK]

30. Absolutely

Anti-vax is a stupid position to take.

Get your damn shots, people.

[LisaL]

31. Yes.

Young people should be used to getting vaccinated.

[Binkie The Clown]

32. Yes. I was a "Polio Pioneer" and I've always taken vaccines seriously. nt

[Bettie]

33. Yes, even in my 20's

I understood vaccines and the need for them.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

34. Yes

My sister had polio when were were very young. I have always been careful to get vaccinations.

[RAB910]

35. In my 20s I would get the flu vaccine

So, yeah

[LeftInTX]

149. You're good. I got my first one in 2019 and I'm almost 65

[Diamond_Dog]

36. Absolutely I would have.

Like someone said above, the Woodstock generation wasn’t that far removed from the polio generation. And, we trusted medical science a lot more back then.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

37. Hell yes.

I grew up seeing the effect vaccines had on eradicating polio and tuberculosis.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

38. Yup.

[sinkingfeeling]

39. Yes, having gone through smallpox and polio vaccinations.

[Lisa0825]

40. Yes. I was a biology major in college, with a plan to work in medical research...

so I would have trusted the scientists and public health experts.

[llashram]

41. yes

[Dave says]

43. Yes. I'm no fool.

[ananda]

44. Yes

My whole family has good heads on our shoulders.

We'd pressure each other.

[stopdiggin]

45. utter nonsense

young folks are almost inherently idealistic and prone towards service and 'participation' - and especially given some healthy encouragement and peer pressure. Persuading large majorities of them towards a healthy, and near effortless, community (and globally?) based service/action? Too easy!

[barbtries]

46. i think i would have.

even in my 20's I would have been anguished at the loss of life associated with this virus. My level of attention has ebbed and flowed during my life, but I usually had some clue about what was happening, so I am confident I would have been as well informed as possible during a time when it was papers and tv and no internet.

[Golden Raisin]

47. Yes. Despite the usual youthful feelings of invincibility.

I was raised by parents who firmly believed in Science and vaccinations. I also remember, as a small child, Polio.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

48. I was in the Marines at 20, so I would have been required to get the shot,

but even as a civilian, I probably would have gotten the shot.

[albacore]

180. I have my old, beat-up shot card from the Corps. 32 inoculations. Plague, even.

I do NOT understand why Biden - as CinC - doesn't order all military personnel to get the vaccine. It's a matter of readiness of our forces, fercrissakes!

[Happy Hoosier]

49. Yes.

I got all the other vaccines… polio, smallpox, MMR… why not this one?

[Ms. Toad]

50. Yes.

But i was pretty much born a responsible adult. My adolescent rebellions were against the Vietnam war, racism, and sexism.

[Javaman]

51. Damn straight

Had an aunt that had small pox.

Had a friend who had polio

I saw the effects of both

Give me the damn shot!

[The Blue Flower]

52. In a heartbeat

I had two small kiddies and would have done it to protect them. I've also been a great believer in science and medicine from an early age. There was a kid in an iron lung on my street, and Jonas Salk's nephew shared a desk with me 2nd grade.

[Pobeka]

53. Yes. Without blinking.

I think the whole Woodstock generation was used to getting vaccines.

Doubting vaccines without good data to back up the doubt is really a new social phenomenon that got traction in the '90s.

I remember getting the smallpox vaccine in grade school, and many boosters. The only sense I ever had about it was this is a good thing.

[bucolic_frolic]

54. At that age I did what the doctors recommended, which wasn't much

I was told I didn't need a DPT now. Later. Later I was going to an anti-vax doctor and didn't know it. I shoulda had one way before now. Way. But I did get a DPT this year, close on COVID vax. And a shingles vax. Boosting immunity works wonders. Surprised I'm not dead long ago. If you don't fit into standard care and standard diagnoses, good luck to you.

[MLAA]

55. Oh yes.

[momta]

56. Yes.

Also, both my kids are in their twenties, and they both got the shot as soon as they were eligible. And they still wear masks on public transportation.

[Dopers_Greed]

57. Yes

Especially if said virus ruined my life and kept me locked inside for a year during my 20's.

Hell, it did that to me during my 30's so not too far off.

[Ocelot II]

58. Yes.

My mother was a nurse, and even though I'd been out of the parental house and on my own when I was in my 20s, she'd have pestered me relentlessly if I didn't get it on my own. She dragged my whiny ass to the doctor for the Salk vaccine the instant that became available, and her attitude wouldn't have changed. There wasn't the science-denying bullshit floating around in those days, either. A college friend had gotten polio and still had to wear a brace on his leg, and I'd had to get a smallpox booster shot to travel overseas. Vaccinations were normal and sensible in those days.

[Warpy]

59. I'd have dragged my feet

unless there was outreach that made it really, really convenient, like a tent at the State Fair or something similar. In my 20s I knew something was seriously wrong even if doctors kept blowing it off (yeah, it was) but I still thought I had all the time in the world.

Kids don't realize time's about up on this thing.

[LeftInTX]

150. I'm almost 65 and have not had a tetanus booster in years. I know what you mean!

Yesterday, they were vaccinating for Covid at the airport baggage claim....

Why haven't I gotten a tetanus booster? I have absolutely no idea......

Not a single doctor has reminded me...

Convenience = compliance

[marmar]

60. Yes. Even in my 20s I was fairly well-read and a believer in science.

[HAB911]

61. LOL, I had a VAX Passport before it was cool, at 19 too

[NNadir]

62. Absolutely. Neither of my 20 something sons hesitated for a New York second to get vaccinated.

I was a pretty stupid kid, but not that stupid.

I will concede that my generation overall embraced stupidity more than other generations, but no, I would not have hesitated irrespective of what any of my peers might have done.

[RKP5637]

63. Yes, only a damn fool would not get the vaccine. n/t

[Vinca]

64. Absolutely. Dinosaurs like me remember the polio epidemic and pictures

of people unable to walk without braces or in iron lungs. We also remember lining up dutifully for our injections of the Salk vaccine. I have a vague memory of taking the oral Sabin vaccine, too, but the one at the forefront is Salk. When I was 20, that would have been even fresher in my mind than it is now.

[Raven]

65. Yes. I probably would have tried for the one shot vax.

[usaf-vet]

66. Yes. Even before joining the military I stood in shot lines. Public Schools had shot days.

Moms, dads, and kids help to eradicate polio and small pox.

NO ONE MADE IT AN US vs THEM political issue we were all AMERICANS and citizens of the WORLD.

[AllyCat]

67. I think I would have been oblivious until:

I went for my yearly check up and it was recommended. I did what my doctor thought was best.

[RainCaster]

68. Yes! I still have the star on my arm from a vaccine I got as a kid

[scrabblequeen40]

69. yes. no hesitation. eom

[pazzyanne]

70. Yes!

I grew up during the polio pandemic when my Mom had her kids in lock-down. She also had us first in line for the polio vaccine. Our vaccinations were always kept up to date. Taking a lesson from my Mom, all my vaccinations are still up to date. Why suffer illness if you don't have to?

[Grins]

71. Hell, yes!

I got the polio vaccine in grade school when it first came out (Board of Health showed up one day and did the ENTIRE school and NO ONE complained about losing their “Freedumb!!!”), and EVERY ONE I knew back then had that small scar from getting scratched for the smallpox vaccine.

On top of those add diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, (hepatitis?), and provide proof you had all those before entering college, and a few more shots when I went into the Army, all before I was 22.

Because those diseases could kill or disfigure.

Only shot I refused was the annual flu shot because it always made me sick. Today - I take that flu shot! On my to-do medical list, the Shingles vaccine.

So answer to your question: Yes!

Another question is what is the difference between then and today? The answer: The ultra-conservative Reich-wing.

[3Hotdogs]

72. Dunno. I was less of an asshole then than I am now.

I got 2V in January.

I don't know what I would have done at age 20.

[TNNurse]

73. In my mid 20s I was in nursing school.

I am pretty sure I would have signed up. My mother taught me to listen to science.

[augyboston]

75. In a New York minute!

Last edited Sun Jul 25, 2021, 12:34 PM - Edit history (1)

I’m a boomer and I can state categorically that if Covid had been around in the 70’s that me and most of my generation would’ve lined up to get vaccinated!

In the 80’s when Aids first appeared, we would’ve jumped at a vaccine.

In the 50’s when we were children we lined up for Polio shots and we didn’t give it a second thought. Our parents didn’t hesitate when it came to vaccines.

It’s only the past twenty years where there’s this ignorant based distrust of science.

Also, our public education system was far better than it is now. I think that plays a role here with young people and their resistance to vaccines even in the face of possible death.

Finally, society was much more civil and cohesive then than these days where far too many people have no idea what posterity is or care about the greater good!

[genxlib]

76. Even if I felt invincible and lacked sense

Which I sometimes did.

I would have taken it so the older decision makers would stop fucking up my life. That is where my daughter is. She just wants the college experience that she deserves and is pissed at the people dragging this shit out even longer.

[RustyWheels]

77. Absolutely !!

As soon as it was made available.

[mgardener]

78. Yes I would have

I was studying to be a nurse/ working in a hospital.
Back then, to go to college in NY, you were required to have certain vaccines.
I would not have hesitated to protect my mother and older relatives.

[Red Pest]

79. YES! Of course, because I was earning any of my three degrees in microbiology and...

I had been ill with measles, chickenpox, and influenza as a child, as had all my younger siblings. I knew that vaccines worked from my studies in microbiology. Further, after the last time I got influenza I vowed that as soon as there was a vaccine available I would take it to prevent being so sick again. I get a flu vaccination every year. Mrs. Red Pest & I got our mRNA-based covid vaccinations as soon as we were eligible.

Anyone who has contracted influenza knows that it comes on very quickly and feels like you were hit by a truck. Ill for a week and another week to fully recover. So, when some idiot says that a covid-19 infection is "only" like a bad flu, well, so worse than getting hit by a truck.

Vaccines work! Smallpox (#1 killer of humans) is extinct because of vaccination (the original vaccine!) Polio could be extinct if it wasn't for insane jihadists killing vaccination teams in certain parts of the world.

For the record, Mrs. Red Pest (now retired) was a researcher who helped to monitor and test the effectiveness of the rotavirus vaccine during trials. how many children saved world-wide because of that vaccine? I have patents on vaccines and for methods to develop vaccines for animals and humans. We (my laboratory and collaborators) continue to investigate mechanisms of virulence in pathogenic bacteria and mechanisms of probiotic activity in probiotic bacteria.

[róisín_dubh]

81. Yes, because I was (and still am to some degree) a hypochondriac.

I love having the vaccine now. Delta is raging all over England and I've been exposed (so I'm isolating and testing daily). I am really not concerned about catching it at this point.

[LakeArenal]

82. Yes, as my mommy would make me.

[rickyhall]

83. Yes, but at the time I would have asked you, "Why ask such a silly question?"

[tavernier]

84. When I was 12 I took the polio vaccine.

Quite happily. I saw my mother suffer with a crippled leg.

[IronLionZion]

85. Yes, I made many bad decisions but would still take a free vaccination

and take my chances with any side effects or whatever. That demographic is getting it more with Delta than previous strains.

[DallasNE]

86. When I Was In My Early 20's

I took the Saben oral polio vaccine so I think that answers that question. Then I had a bevy of vaccinations while in basic training a couple of years later.

And that reminds me, how many of these anti-vaxxers have received multiple vaccinations in the past, including things like Novocain? That means that they are not truly anti-vaxxers but cult members blindly following their "leader". There is no principle involved, just stupidity.

[Rebl2]

87. Yes I

Would have as long as my rheumatologist said it was safe for me to take. He was pretty conservative when it came to new drugs/vaccines for his rheumatoid patients. I bet he would have been against me taking it.

[appleannie1]

88. I was happy to get the polio vaccine when I was even younger than 20.

[joetheman]

89. YEP!! I think we were a lot smarter than the 20-somethings today. nt

[Jon King]

97. No, we definitely were not smarter....

Sure a loud minority are stupid and make the news but kids today are off the charts smart. Academically they are light years ahead of 40 years ago. For every screw up kid their are 10 other taking coding, interning with companies, 4 hours of home work.

We would have a lot of nerve taking shots at 20 somethings.....we took all the Social Security and are leaving them with massive debt, we destroyed the climate, and we filled the Senate and Supreme Court with elderly white morons full of hate.

So we ain't all that smart.

[Hekate]

152. "We"? Speak for yourself Jon

[Brother Buzz]

90. No, not unless I was roped and herded into a line

I would have had no problems with the actual vaccine, but I was young and stupid, and had a ton of more important things to do.

I was young and stupid, for sure, and that bears repeating

[yonder]

116. Same here. I can't believe I'm still here after all the stupid things I've done and regret.

Many of those things involved illegal substances or the acquisition thereof, usually while riding a motorcycle. Knowing myself at say 23 years old, I likely would've blown off a Covid vaccine unless corralled into doing so.

Before the Covid vaccine was developed I was thinking I might wait 6 months after release so any bugs could be ironed out. That changed once it was released and I did everything I could to get it as fast as possible.

[Jon King]

92. Being a microbiology graduate student and teaching assistant, certainly....

Pretty much surrounded by medical students and science at that age. I would also think we would have been able to convince many of the undergrads to get it also. The teaching assistants were looked up to by the undergrads back then.

[trixie2]

93. Absolutely, Yes!

[lark]

95. 100% - I have always supported facts and science.

I was going to college for an Ecology Major in my 20's - so yeah, i'd have taken them in a nanosecond. I was part and parcel of the Woodstock generation and it would not have occurred to me to not get vaccinated - who wants to die or potentially cause others to die? Now if Nixon were president, I might have thought twice and waited 60 days (like I did this time due to lack of availability) to see what happened first but after that I'd have been there with bells on.

[Acme Mfg. Co]

96. Of Course I Would

I've been a lurker on this site for a long time, but I signed up today--because every young person in my life (including my daughter) is too smart to be insulted by a question like this. They're all vaxxed, as I'm certain my brothers and sisters and I would have been. I got the swine flu vaccination in 1974, and to me that was an absolute no-brainer.

[gopiscrap]

155. welcome to DU

[StevieM]

98. Absolutely. There would have been no hesitation. (eom)

[Iggo]

102. In my 20s? Hard to say. I didn't resume regular flu shots til after I quit partying at 35.

However, I did take advantage of free medical check-ups because they included a free aids test. And I like to think that if I did the minimum of the right thing during an epidemic, that I also would have for a pandemic.

But again, who knows?

[GB_RN]

103. When I Was In My 20s

I knew the importance of having health insurance, and was flabbergasted by those who didn’t think they needed it. So, yeah, I’d still get the vaccine if I were 20-some years younger.

[MustLoveBeagles]

104. I think so

While I felt pretty invincible health wise at that age, I wasn't stupid. I would've taken the vaccine to protect my grandparents and other older relatives.

[Ford_Prefect]

105. The people I knew would have gotten it. We knew there reasons to do it.

We grew up in the age of the SALK vaccine. We were in scouts, our families went to church and we knew there were reasons to do things when others thought it wise to do them.

The people who have gone out of their way to decry the Woodstock generation as drug addled slackers, as anti-anything and irresponsible weren't part of it. We were and are so much more than a bumper-sticker slogan.

[TheFarseer]

107. As long as it was free

And I could get time off from work - yeah, why not?

Especially since I never had health insurance back then.

[Buckeyeblue]

108. Yes. My grandfather survived polio--vaccines for us are not even a question

I was very close to my grandfather who survived polio as a young child but spent the rest of his life struggling with its debilitating impacts. Why anyone would take a chance with a disease that can be prevented with a vaccine is beyond me.

I have zero patience with the anti-vaxxers. I don't want to be around them. I don't trust their judgement.

[maryellen99]

109. Yes I would have

I worked at a nursery school/daycare in my 20’s.

[LizBeth]

110. Parental influence. There is still a lot of parental influence in 20's. I thought initially

that I would probably not because of all what you say then thought about my own 20 somethings and they were on board and front of line. They also followed covid rules for the year and half not wanting to get it or give it. I know the seriousness that I as a parent took it had a huge effect on boys. They did not want me to die and in all things considered me during tis time making them well aware. Also they are pretty socially aware. Just the way we are and they were raised.

Then I thought about my father now who got sucked in by Fox and I would not have had the parental pressure or awareness and consideration to get the shot.

[TalenaGor]

111. if there was no right wing misinformation most would i bet...

[ismnotwasm]

112. One of the saddest things about DU

Is there isn’t enough people in their 20’s here to give an opinion on the topic.

[ansible]

159. DU's interface is stuck in the 90s

Younger users can't navigate this forum at all

[Fla Dem]

113. YES. Because when I was in my early 20's we didn't have internet, FOX, twitter, FB etc.

to spread alarming lies and half truths. We had one conservative radio station but I don't think even they ever promoted not getting vaxxed.

At most we had the 3 major TV channels, PBS and at UHF channel. We listened to our Doctors and did what they advised. It was pretty low key. "Flu season is almost here, time for your shot." We took it for granted it was the right thing to do, just like the measles, small pox and other childhood shots. Our parents and grandparent s lived though deadly epidemics and knew the value of being vaccinated.

[Paladin]

114. Yes, without a doubt.

I had a close relative who made a career in public health medicine. They wouldn't have allowed me to be stupid enough to dodge a safe and effective vaccine.

[KentuckyWoman]

115. I was 20 in 1961

At the time I was grateful for vaccines and have not hesitated to take the new ones as they come along.

That shingles shot was a real booger though ....

[yonder]

119. Yes, both shingles shots laid me low for a few days. Would I do it again? Damn straight.

[LizBeth]

123. I just got shingles. Didn't have other issue but took my arm down much longer than covid did.

[yonder]

125. Sorry to hear that, I just found out my 86 year old Mom is running the gauntlet with it too.

Here's hoping it clears up quickly with a speedy recovery!!

[LizBeth]

131. My bad, I saw it as soon as I re read. I just got the shingle VAC. Words matter. Sometimes I

forget to use them all. I had a friend that just got it and I know I do not want to go thru that and the new shingle vac is much better than the old.

[yonder]

135. ...

[Hekate]

117. Yes, we were different that way. The only vaccine deniers I ever heard of were religious nut cases

Since they were few in those days, giving them an exemption so their kids could attend public school was not a threat to public health in general.

The other great leveler besides public school was the draft. Draftees were not given a choice in the matter at all.

[GoodRaisin]

118. I don't know where the idea that people don't need vaccinations ever came from.

When I was growing up when you needed a vaccination you just went and got it. There was no discussion about not getting it.

Everyone had to have vaccinations to go to school.

When I joined the military they shoved vaccinations in our arms as soon as we got to boot camp. Nobody said “I refuse to take the vaccination”.

So, I would’ve taken the Covid vaccination when I was young, yeah. No problem. I thought the reason for doing it was to protect me.

[ProfessorGAC]

120. Sure

I get the invincible thing. I think the vast majority feel that way.
But, I've never been one to ignore facts and if a vaccine warded off a terrible illness, I'd get it.
I'd say that describes my entire adult life.

[Captain Zero]

121. I sure would have. Part of safe sex at that time for me.

No brag, just fact.
I would have been crazy to get back in carnal circulation.

I would have been very careful and followed all the precautions before the vaccine was available too. I'm not sure what's wrong with kids these days.

[BlueTsunami2018]

122. Yes, I'm quite sure I would have.

Because this is different than the usual swine flu or whatever flu of the day was around. This is much more serious, an actual pandemic.

[greatauntoftriplets]

124. My paternal grandfather died of the Spanish flu in 1918.

At the time, my father was not quite 8. So he barely knew his father, and I never knew my grandfather.

Then there's polio. I was a sickly kid with frequent strep infections resulting from bad tonsils. As a result, I was high risk for polio. I was kept indoors too much in the summer because of that, didn't learn to swim until much later or do things my friends could do. As soon as our doctor had the Salk vaccine, my mother took us to the doctor for the jab.

After that, I was free to be a kid.

So, absolutely yes.

[CaptainTruth]

126. Yes, absolutely. I remember getting other shots when I was young...

...like tetanus. I helped my dad do remodeling work when I was in high school & I WANTED to make sure my tetanus shots were up to date. I once stepped on a nail in a 2x4 & it went through my foot, out the top of my boot. Another time I tripped over the remains of a rusted-off pipe that I didn't see in the weeds & it tore a gash in my leg just above my boot, I have a nice scar from that. So yea, I'm not stupid, I knew the danger & I proactively made sure my shots were up to date, I still do. I know I would have been the same way with COVID.

[YoshidaYui]

127. Absolutely

Absolutely I believe in science! Plus, I had a good education.

[myccrider]

128. Yes, of course.

Didn’t have flu shots way back then and I probably would NOT have taken that shot. I’m still a bit sporadic on getting it every year.

But Covid would have frightened me somewhat personally and I had enough social conscience at the time to see that I needed to contribute to not spreading the dang thing. I also still had grandparents back then, too, now I are one.

[H2O Man]

129. Recommended.

Great question. I really don't know. And I suppose that's the difference between then and now -- back then I knew the answer to everything.

[BusterMove]

130. Yep. The notions of People a lot smarter then me on the subject

Matter to me.

[LeftInTX]

132. Yes

I never felt invincible when I was young

[spanone]

133. Certainly, I lived thru the 50's and saw friends with polio...

[halfulglas]

136. Oh hell yeah.

I once took aspirin with Coke because my friend told me it would get me high. (It didn't.) I had friends who bought pills on the street in the late 60s and early 70s and took them not having any certainty about what they even were. In some ways we were just as gullible as today's 20 somethings but on the side of better living through chemistry. We thought we were invincible in that a little drug wouldn't hurt us. I'm also of the first generation to get the Salk shot having had 2 cousins with nonparalytic polio. Many of today's are more afraid of the shot than the disease. Some feel invincible in their own health and immune system but some are terrified of the consequence of the shots. They say they are being smart but down deep many of them are absolutely terrified.

Most scientists will tell you there are no drugs without some side effects. Some are very very mild and most are temporary. But when you weigh the costs and effects. Now I have at least one relative who has a very terrible side effect to a cancer drug, but even knowing that she would take that chance again. She is living her life and the alternative is unacceptable. In my 20s I never thought there were consequences to just about any drug. They either worked or they didn't.

With the help of today's internet and Fox and its clones, people are well aware of drug side effects, but they way blow up the number of real occurrences and lie and spread false ones without consequences.

[Texasgal]

137. Considering I had to have

several vaccinations to attend college I wouldn't have given it another thought.

[csziggy]

138. Yes, I had a friend in school who had polio

Coming from a science based family, I understood how important vaccinations were, even as a young kid.

Now I look back and realize how much suffering would have been avoided if vaccines for the many childhood diseases my friends and I went through are now avoided by most children. In my neighborhood we had measles, German measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, and more. But due to research we did NOT have polio or smallpox.

Now parents can protect their children from all of those. Anyone who does not attempt to protect their children should not be parents.

[ChazII]

139. Yes. I took the swineflu shot. n/t

[Polybius]

140. No

I was a Bob Dole loving Republican back then, so I don't think I would have.

[Scrivener7]

163. But then the question is: would Bob Dole have encouraged vaccinating?

I think the answer to that is yes. I disagreed with him on a lot, but he was a whole other kettle of fish than the TFG Zombies we have running around today.

[meadowlander]

141. Difficult to say

On the one hand, in my 20s I was an idiot and refused to get flu shots on the basis that it's good for your immune system to get a little sick now and again to stay in practice.

On the other hand, I was a news junkie and I think the images of the coffins stacking up on that island in New York would have convinced me not to f around.

Part of the problem is that we're not seeing stories in the news anymore about what Covid can do and that makes it harder for people to take it seriously as a threat.

[GoCubsGo]

142. Yes.

When I was in my 20s, medicine and science had not been politicized to the extent they are now. Brain-dead Ronnie had only started chipping away at trust in our government, at that point. I was also finishing up my second biology degree, so I already knew about vaccines, and how they work.

[ShazzieB]

143. I would have absolutely gotten vaxxed.

The "Woodstock generation" was also the first generation to get the polio vaccination at a young age and grow up without the spectre of that dread disease hanging over our heads. We remember it being hailed as a miracle and something that made our lives better.

We also grew up in a time when science was highly respected, and we were taught to trust science, including vaccines. I am absolutely certain that I would not have hesitated to get vaxxed.

[Meowmee]

145. Yes because I am not stupid now and I wasn't stupid then.

[11 Bravo]

146. In a heartbeat.

[GulfCoast66]

147. I'm a science major. Of course I would have taken it.

I’ve read enough history to know how vaccines changed the world.

[haele]

148. Yes. Because I already knew by then I was not immortal....

And I had friends and relatives that were immunocompromised.

Vaccines are like car seats. You probably won't ever get in a bad enough accident that it saves your kid from being thrown through a windshield or ejected from the car, but if you are in one, it will probably save a kid's life far more often than not.
Haele

[NotANeocon]

151. Of course I would - I didn't hesitate to take the Polio vaccine in my 20s

The properly vetted "vaccine" has always been a better choice/bet than the disease

[I_UndergroundPanther]

153. Yes.

[Skittles]

154. yes

I took many, many shots as a GI brat who traveled overseas, and when I was enlisted too....I never went through that
phase where I thought I was invincible, due to my childhood....I had to live in the real world.

[tenderfoot]

156. Yes. That would have been the 1980s before everything on Earth became a partisan issue

eom

[BannonsLiver]

157. This thread makes me think that there are few if any people here who are in their 20's.

And that DU membership tilts very heavily into the 60+ demo. Maybe even 70+. That’s of not real consequence. Just an observation.

And yes, I would have sought out the vax in my 20’s.

[canetoad]

158. That would be correct

But let's give a shout out to Celerity! buddy

As a child migrant to Oz from the UK at age 11 in 1965 we had the gamut. Before that, I remember older kids with leg and back braces because of polio. Even though I had no say at that young age, I continued to be vaccinated when I reached majority and still do in my dotage.

[Crunchy Frog]

160. Absolutely.

[Withywindle]

161. As long as it was free or very cheap,yes

I was broke and uninsured then.

[radicalleft]

162. Lots of rose colored glasses here on this thread...

all so virtuous and self assured.

In all honesty, I don't think I would have. Much like you, I felt invincible and was a very healthy young person. So, I guess I'll take one for the team and be honest.

[Scrivener7]

164. Thank goodness you have arrived to let everyone know that you are the only

honest one and everyone else is wrong about themselves.

[radicalleft]

175. You're welcome

Glad to be of service

[Scrivener7]

176. Read it again. No one thanked you.

[BeckyDem]

165. Yes. Most Americans would be vaccinated now if this happened over 40 years ago.

Because no Republican in office would likely have ever been anti-government and conspiracy-driven for political gain as they are today.

Don't get me wrong, I am a repeater of pointing blame at Reaganism for all this hatred/distrust of gov and embrace of greed. But they would not be doing this 40 years ago, not imo, no way. Twenty-year-olds no matter the party would get the shot.

[mnhtnbb]

167. Yes. I was 24 when I received my graduate degree

in public health--MPH from UCLA-- so I wouldn't have hesitated to follow the science.

[JoanofArgh]

168. Yes.

[SKKY]

169. 100%. After 20 years in the Navy, and multiple deployments...

...I've had sooooooo many vaccines, this would just be another of those.

[lagomorph777]

170. Yes.

Granted, none of us had any experience in our lives with a deadly pandemic. But I definitely didn't want to die when I was in my 20s.

[Deep State Witch]

171. Yes

I grew up hearing about my great-grandmother, who died in the 1918 influenza pandemic. My grandfather was about 10 when she died. My Dad's father caught it coming home from WWI, and survived it. My college even had a song about a ghost in our one dorm who was a kid who went off to WWI, but got influenza and died. (Which is how his parents came to donate their mansion to our college. Besides, I came of age in the era of AIDS. Granted, I did have unprotected sex in the mid-80's, but that was at the very beginning of the AIDS epidemic.

[UnderThisLaw]

172. Yes, I've always believed in science NFM

[Brother Mythos]

173. Absolutely. My 20s were in the 1970s. As political as the 60s and 70s were, ...

I can't imagine a pandemic occurring then that would have been politicized by either major political party.

[nolabear]

174. Hell yes. I believe in science and medicine. Always have.

Not without question. I question like crazy. But I listen to the answers too.

[roamer65]

177. Fuck yeah.

[AngryOldDem]

178. Yes.

[Bucky]

179. In my 20s I was young and stupid. But not THAT stupid

The Woodstock generation knew about polio. Yes, they would have taken the vaccine.

[Initech]

182. Give me any and all vaccines! I'm not picky!

[SharonAnn]

183. Probably so because my parents would've been on my case until I did. They were a Dr. and Nurse