Should I get Vaccinated?

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inspired
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 8:02 am

Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by inspired »

Hello everyone!

Should I get inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine in China?
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by sid »

We need more context to provide real answers.
If you’re asking whether it is a useful vaccine, yes, it’s better than not being vaccinated, but not as great as other Covid vaccines. If it’s your only option, get it. If you have better options, do that. Or do both. Evidence so far suggests that mixing and matching vaccines produces even better results than a single source.
If you’re asking whether it is safe, yes it is.
inspired
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 8:02 am

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by inspired »

Dear Sid,

Thanks for your response and yes, you are right on providing more context. My mistake! I am just a bit hesitant to share too much on here because I do not want my identity to be discovered...

Here's the meat:
My wife is vaccinated, but with a Western vaccine and does not plan to get Sinovac unless she absolutely must to increase the possibility of her returning to China when she goes back to her home country to see family. Tentatively, our plan is to have her return next summer. My wife is also an international school teacher and she teaches in demand subjects.

I am not vaccinated at all and prefer to keep it that way, but I am worried about a few things, such as the following:
1) Marketability-- my wonder is that getting vaccinated may make us more marketable to international schools in the future. For example, perhaps a vaccination could help me or us skip quarantine, which lowers our costs to a potential future school, which makes us more attractive hires. We eventually plan to leave China and my main reason for getting vaccinated would be increase employability opportunities in other Asia countries, such as Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, etc....

2) I am the weaker link in our teaching couple application, because I teach subjects that are easier to hire for. Vaccine=potential slight increase in my application, maybe?

3) If I also choose to return to my wife's home country with her next next summer, my thinking is that having a Sinovac vaccination will increase my chances of getting back into China in the future.

Thanks!
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by sid »

It’s been discussed here before, so I’ll summarize. My own stance is very much pro-vaccine, but that’s irrelevant to your questions. You want to know about the intersection of vaccination status and employment. The short version is that being unvaccinated will greatly diminish your prospects. You cannot work in schools in many countries, my own host country included, unless you are vaccinated. (There may be room legally for legitimate medical exemptions, but probably most schools won’t want to take the chance of exploring this route and hoping for the best.)
You also cannot enter many countries unless you are vaccinated.
You might also find you need to get more than one vaccine. China will probably require one of theirs, but getting back home or to other countries will require different WHO approved vaccines.
Staying home, wherever that is, might not help since many countries are considering vaccine mandates for educators; some already have them.
It might be easier to leave education than to continue without vaccination.
I’m sorry if it’s not what you want to hear, but it is the current reality.
inspired
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 8:02 am

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by inspired »

Thanks for your honesty and summarization, Sid! Appreciate it. Gives me lots of wisdom to consider.

Might be time to take the jab.
secondplace
Posts: 191
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:40 pm

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by secondplace »

The reality is that it will get harder and harder to either change jobs, or even remain in a current job, with being vaccinated.

The country requirements are not going to get less restrictive in terms of vaccine requirement any time soon.

Then there will the added complications of travel if you're not vaccinated - either you won't be able to, or there will be lots of quarantine.

That's the reality of the situation and your choice, really, is to accept it or work/live in another place/job.
inspired
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 8:02 am

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by inspired »

secondplace wrote:
> The reality is that it will get harder and harder to either change jobs, or
> even remain in a current job, with being vaccinated.
>
> The country requirements are not going to get less restrictive in terms of
> vaccine requirement any time soon.
>
> Then there will the added complications of travel if you're not vaccinated
> - either you won't be able to, or there will be lots of quarantine.
>
> That's the reality of the situation and your choice, really, is to accept
> it or work/live in another place/job.

That's interesting, but my reality is not the same where I am at in China. In China, Western vaccines are not loaded onto the application you use as a foreigner in my particular city to show your green code. Only the Chinese vaccine is displayed. Having both vaccines or neither does not limit travel. If you come from a city that is high risk, then that's extremely important.
secondplace
Posts: 191
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:40 pm

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by secondplace »

With regards to travel I meant from one country to another.

Within countries there will be different rules, but I would suggest that being vaccinated would make moving from one country to another easier.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
unsure
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:15 pm

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by unsure »

secondplace wrote:
> With regards to travel I meant from one country to another.


And where I am, it even affects travel within the country. You can't take public transport without being vaccinated.

Stricter rules for the unvaccinated are being introduced around the world. In terms of travel, access to local amenities and shops, and increasingly vaccine mandates for people working in healthcare and education. As an international teacher working in China, I would imagine that you might want / need some kind of vaccination certificate that's valid both in China and around the world. Until mutual recognition kicks in, that'll probably mean getting both a 'western' vaccine and a Chinese one.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

Setting aside the position of vaccination in general and addressing the issue from the employment POV, get the Sinovac vaccine or whatever vaccine you can get and ideally both with the other being a Western vaccine if possible. The only scenario I can see being unvaccinated as an advantage is in a few Western regions at Christian or highly conservative private/independent DSs. There was a Christian DS in the US that dismissed a DT for getting vaccinated and the HOS of the DS made a statement that vaccination does not conform with the DSs religious ethos. Outside that being unvaccinated is just going to make life far more difficult from travel to visas to job offers and appointments. As previous contributors have stated its not going to get less restrictive.
buffalofan
Posts: 350
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:08 pm

Re: Response

Post by buffalofan »

PsyGuy wrote:
>There was a Christian DS in the US that dismissed
> a DT for getting vaccinated and the HOS of the DS made a statement that
> vaccination does not conform with the DSs religious ethos.

LOL...what??? Is there a link to this story? Off the top of my head, my guess is either Florida or Indiana...
FV2020
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:21 am

Re: Response

Post by FV2020 »

buffalofan wrote:
> PsyGuy wrote:
> >There was a Christian DS in the US that dismissed
> > a DT for getting vaccinated and the HOS of the DS made a statement that
> > vaccination does not conform with the DSs religious ethos.
>
> LOL...what??? Is there a link to this story? Off the top of my head, my guess is
> either Florida or Indiana...

If this isn’t already a reference to Centner Academy in Miami, they’ve done that (among other things)
Heliotrope
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am

Re: Response

Post by Heliotrope »

Probably not the school @PsyGuy is referring to (since I see no mention of religion anywhere), but Centner indeed has similar policies:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/us/f ... ccine.html

Glad they did this, so teachers know to avoid this school.
expatscot
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:26 am

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Post by expatscot »

Setting aside the rights and wrongs of the overall principle - and I think that any vaccine is better than none, having known a few people who've had COVID - I think it's going to become increasingly difficult, if not downright impossible, to be a teacher without the vaccine. While many countries don't have a technical block on visas to people who haven't got vaccines, there is a de facto one in that many are requiring teachers to be vaccinated before entering the classroom - so if you effectively refuse to be vaccinated, there goes your job. We're not there yet in China, but I think that as China starts to open up later this year then it's more than likely this will be a requirement. I would say that rather than having the vaccine making you more marketable, not having it will more likely make you nearly unemployable.

As for next summer, I don't see things changing at all here. If you have the Sinovac (or the Sinopharm) vaccine, then it will more likely be easier for you to re-enter China. The process remains the same as before, but you need to get the visas reissued and to do this need proof of an acceptable vaccine. It also wouldn't surprise me if airlines start insisting on it, or if China decides to require it before people can leave.

All in all, to me it makes more sense just to get it. I've had the Sinopharm one - the two initial shots, and the booster - and had no side effects.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Comment

Post by PsyGuy »

The line attributed by @expatscot "Rather than having the vaccine making you more marketable, not having it will more likely make you nearly unemployable", is the best summation of the issue Ive read.
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