Proud Gymnast: You stated
"and the fact that the vaccine doesn't even prevent you from getting the virus, it only reduces symptoms"
I would like to add some new knowledge/facts to this widely held belief:
Early results are showing good evidence that fully vaccinated people ARE EXTREMELY UNLIKELY TO BECOME NEWLY INFECTED WITH, AND TRANSMIT, THE VIRUS. Over time, as more vaccines are administered and the real-world infection rates among vaccinated people are counted, the statistics/scientific evidence will tell us for sure. Thus far, things are looking very optimistic
Here are two peer-reviewed medical journal articles (i.e. unbiased numbers) that speak to this:
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), published March 23, 2021: the percentages of fully vaccinated persons who became infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus was 4 out of 8,121 which is a rate of .05 percent
Source:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2101927
And a second study, also published in the NEJM on March 23, found a new SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate of .05% in a total of 14,990 vaccine recipients.
Source:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2101927
If the above rates continue, it does indeed seem that vaccination will reduce infection with, and transmission of, the virus.
I am sure we all know people who are not able to get the vaccine who would love to be able to do so (i.e., immune-compromised, those undergoing chemotherapy, etc.)
. For their sake, even if you are not worried about yourself or your family getting COVID, it would be a gesture of love and support to your community to get the vaccine and help reduce the amount of circulating virus. And we all care about our community, right?