I don't think vaccines should be compulsory, but it is something you can do to potentially avoid a much worse situation...
It is like putting your seat belt on in the car... I have heard of extreme cases where not wearing a seat belt has saved lives... I know a chap who ran into the back of a vehicle towing a trailer with very long pieces of wood hanging off the back... it stopped so quick he didn't have time to hit the brakes and ran straight into it... the car behind him saw no brake lights light up and didn't realise he was stopping and rammed him from behind... the initial impact made him fall forward against the steering wheel (no airbags back then...) when the car behind him shoved his car forward his head came up again and hit the piece of wood that would have gone through his face if he was wearing his seat belt.
But not a good reason not to wear a seatbelt.
Knew another guy who was a truck driver... was in and out of the cab all the time so didn't bother with a seatbelt. They assumed he fell asleep at the wheel and fell out of the cabin as the truck went bouncing down a steep bank off the side of the road... from the tracks it seems it was the last set of wheels that went over him and killed him but is was 40m down so even with a seat belt he likely would not have survived...
Life is dangerous, the destination for everyone is the same. Glad to hear you and your good wife made it through, but sorry for your loss. Sounds like there would not have been much you could have done except spend that extra time that you lost.
Louisiana nurse blows the whistle: 'We have had more children die from the COVID vaccine than of COVID itself'
This is the core of the problem.... it has become an argument, rather than a search for the truth.
If the vaccine is doing more damage than the virus then that needs to not be hidden or disguised... people who are pro or against mostly seem to treat it like an ideological discussion where the truth does not matter and winning is everything, so you hide the faults of what you believe and attack the weaknesses of that you don't believe... when in actual fact we should be looking at the truth and searching for honest solutions.
I can say I have been vaccinated and I feel fine but anyone can say... well what if I have a reaction and it kills me... we wont know unless you take the vaccine, so people outside the demographic of people mostly hospitalised or killed by the virus might say the risk is not worth it.
The problem is the truth... bad reactions do occur, but the problem is that one or two examples when millions are being vaccinated makes the odds seem rather bad so you might think you have a better chance just getting the virus.
Telling people they have to get the virus does not work.
I think sharing your experience of either the vaccine or the virus is useful, but unfortunately the debate has hardened into "sides" which means two groups of people frantically searching for evidence that proves they are right... and of course you are going to find a mountain of evidence on the interweb for that.... there are places on the internet where Putin started WWII, so of course you will find what you are looking for... but that is the problem they are not looking for teh truth, the are looking for further proof to support what they currently think... and that is the problem... because they can find it... they will also find proof they are wrong but they will ignore that.
Scientific research and analysis is to look at all the evidence and evaluate it... don't disregard it just because it does not support your thesis... and be prepared to change your thesis if you find irrefutable proof that the thesis is wrong.
But as I said the real problem is that both sides are doing this and the truth is just something that gets in the way of achieving that magic vaccination level that will solve everything.
BTW Boosters are not new and have been used in the past... in fact yearly flu vaccines are actually boosters to deal with new strains and variants that have developed since the original virus was found and the original vaccine was created.
People in Russia taking Sputnik V do not know how good they have it.
And most westerners would be shocked but I think you would agree that a large part of why Russia has it good despite the deaths is that the government is not owned by big Pharma and is working to the interests of Russia and Russians... most western countries it is hard to say the same.