All of Taiwan’s counties and cities have been starting, stage by stage, to make vaccinations available to eligible senior citizens, but some of those seniors have been passing up the chance to get inoculated. One person posted a message online, saying that an elderly person in his family was worried about possible side effects after vaccination and thought that the vaccine might be too much for her aging body to take, so she had decided not to get vaccinated. However, everyone in her family was very worried, so he was posting this message to ask other people’s advice. This post inspired extensive discussions.
The man posted a message on the PTT bulletin board system, asking: “Is 96-year-old grandma right to give up on the vaccination?” He pointed out that the grandma of his family, having reached the advanced age of 96, hardly ever went out, but only pottered around their house and yard. He said that she was also worried about possible side effects from the vaccine, so she had given up the idea of getting vaccinated.
However, the poster noted that his aunt, who looks after his grandmother, is only 73 years old, so it is not yet her turn to get vaccinated. He said that she often has to go to the market to buy daily necessities, and she has suffered from early-stage ovarian cancer, which puts her in a high-risk group. These factors caused the poster’s family to split into two factions, with one faction wanting to respect the grandmother’s wishes, while the other faction said that she would be exposed to a high risk if did not get vaccinated. The poster said that this situation was very distressing, so he had to turn to fellow Internet users for help.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Liberty Times 照片:自由時報劉信德
After he posted this message, it sparked heated debate among Internet users, with some of them saying that the family should respect the woman’s wishes. Some of the comments were: “Of course she should not get vaccinated — she will be just as well protected if her children and grandchildren get the jab;” “At grandma’s age, she can be responsible for her own decisions;” “Let the elders decide for themselves” and “She can decide for herself, so leave it up to her.”
However, another group of commenters said that the chance of dying from fatal side effects is quite remote, and you are much more likely to end up dead if you unfortunately catch the virus. One person said “She should go and get vaccinated. Among today’s fatal cases, five out of the nine victims aged over 80 had been infected and died because they had contact with other confirmed cases.” Other comments included: “Severe illness causes a lot of suffering — Do not give up your chance, grandma” and “Please get vaccinated — at 96 years old you have a very high chance of becoming severely ill.”
(Translated by Julian Clegg, Taipei Times)
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Liberty Times 照片:自由時報劉信德
近日全台各縣市分波開放符合資格長者施打疫苗,不過也有長者放棄接種。有網友指家中長輩擔心施打疫苗後產生副作用,年邁的身體恐怕難以負荷,放棄施打,但全家人仍很擔心,發文請教網友,引發廣泛討論。
一名網友在批踢踢布告欄發文,「九十六歲的奶奶放棄疫苗是對的嗎?」,他指出,家中的奶奶因為已經高齡九十六,平常也幾乎不出門,只會在自家院子走走,加上擔心疫苗副作用,因此打算放棄疫苗。
不過,由於負責照顧奶奶起居的發文者姑姑才七十三歲,還輪不到打疫苗,平時也得去市場購物採買民生用品,並且曾罹患過卵巢癌初期,也是高風險群。以上原因造成發文者家中分成兩派,一派是要尊重奶奶的意願,一派是奶奶若沒施打才是暴露於高風險,讓他相當苦惱,只好求助網友。
文章發出,引起網友熱議,部分人認為該尊重奶奶意願,「當然是不要打,子孫打就好一樣保護」、「奶奶都幾歲了,自己做決定自己會負責」、「讓長輩自行決定」、「自己能決定就聽本人的吧」。
不過另一派網友則認為,副作用致命機率並不高,若不幸確診反而更可能因此失去生命,「應該要去打,根據今天死亡個案中,八十歲以上九人中有五個是接觸確診者導致感染死亡」、「重症很痛苦啊,奶奶別放棄」、「拜託打,九十六歲重症機率極高」。
(自由時報)
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