> I think "anti-vax" sounds inherently extremist and conspiracy-theorist, and isn't an accurate representation of the middle ground here. To be fair, it's more like "pro-choice."

It's just a smear to divide and rally the left. Nobody who has received the plethora of other standard vaccines and given them to his child can reasonably be called anti-vax for refusing an experimental first-of-its-type vaccine that didn't follow the same rigorous process as the others. Especially not in a climate where natural immunity is ignored and off patent treatment are not pursued.

I got the Pfizer vaccine and a single, final booster. I'm expecting that decision made from fear to come back to haunt me at some point in my life. I have nothing but respect for people who decide not to get a COVID vaccine.

I mostly agree. It is genuinely hard in this environment to rationally discuss individual options. As an example, here is an example of Hep B vaccination for infants.

How is it transmitted: "This can happen through sexual contact; sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment; or from mother to baby at birth. "[1]

Why do I need it? My kid's doctor paraphrased: um, chart says so and school won't her in if she does not have it.

And that does not mention super annoying conversation with wife, whose entire argument for it is: 'it won't do damage'.

[1]https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/index.htm

This is an excellent analysis, and I wish we saw more of these comparisons.

The status quo (which differs by country!) for compulsory or somewhat-compulsory vaccination provides a great benchmark for what's seemingly "reasonable."

I think that benchmark--and your analysis seems to show similarly--suggests most developed countries are sorta fine with compulsory vaccines for diseases like Covid. But looking at things through this lens helps contextualize and normalize the current policies--people who are concerned about Covid vaccines might feel a lot better when the vaccine is put into perspective.

Covid vaccines went through the same safety and efficacy trials as every other vaccine.

Covid has a 2%? mortality rate against the immune naive, with a much greater proportion requiring hospitalisation and suffering long term health consequences. I believe that is pretty similar to many other illnesses we vaccinate against.

There are varied and complex reasons for people being anti-vax, but none of them are grounded in science.