People need to stop saying that the vaccines are not meant to prevent illness, only to prevent hospitalization and death. Most people don't think they're at risk to be hospitalized, so why should they get it if that's the case?
Because it does reduce chances of getting sick at all. It does reduce the severity of illness if you do. It does reduce transmission. It does reduce your chances of getting long covid or long-term health problems. It's far from perfect, but the benefit is significant.
@erikalyn I've never met a "swing" vaxxer, or anyone on the fence about getting a vaccine, personally. It's ridiculously polarizing. But if I did meet such a person, I would advocate for going above and beyond just vaccination -- we need to filter the virus from the air as well, either as it enters our lungs (by wearing respirators) or before it enters our lungs (by using air purifiers)
@Nazareno catching covid does not "build" your immune system. Infection-based immunity is extraordinarily fleeting and does not pay dividends on the damage the virus has already done, even in asymptomatic infections (which you may have had). Symptoms are not the same as underlying disease. HIV is famous for starting as a cold and then doing all of its damage silently
Furthermore, the immune system is not analogous to a muscle that needs to be used to be kept in shape, and the complete opposite is true -- there is no material benefit to any amount of viral infections. The immune system stays stronger the less it is activated, because it is ultimately a finite resource
With SARS-CoV-2 in particular, there is evidence that it sticks around and causes chronic T cell activation. There are only so many naive/undifferentiated T cells the thymus can supply before it shrinks (it normally shrinks with age)