> Does it prevent spreading (read: keep wearing masks after vaccination) or does it "only" prevent symptoms?
There would be no reasonable mechanism for a vaccine that prevents infection but somehow still allows "spreading". Either you're sick or your not, the immune system doesn't "prevent symptoms" (strictly: it's the cause of them). This isn't how things work.
As far as "long term side effects"... that's also an extremely rare kind of interaction. Vaccine delivery is extraordinarily safe. I worry that your phrasing is invoking anti-vax paranoia.
> There would be no reasonable mechanism for a vaccine that prevents infection but somehow still allows "spreading".
Sure. I agree.
But there are mechanisms for a vaccine to prevent symptoms and still allow for some infection and spreading.
> Either you're sick or your not, the immune system doesn't "prevent symptoms" (strictly: it's the cause of them).
You seem to be contradicting yourself here. Being sick = having symptoms = the immune system being (overly) active. The main goal of all the vaccines under development is to prevent the immune system becoming overly active (AKA: fight the symptoms). Not necessarily to prevent any virus from being made in the body and being spread. Although we all hope that it also prevents spreading, it's not a given and it's not proven to do so (yet).
It's perfectly possible to be infected and infectious without "being sick" (no symptoms). Children do it all the time with SARS-CoV2.
> As far as "long term side effects"... that's also an extremely rare kind of interaction.
We're about to vaccinate some 5 Billion people. That means we have to take into consideration "extremely rare" kind of interactions. Especially if you don't want to feed the anti-vax conspiracy theories.
> I worry that your phrasing is invoking anti-vax paranoia.
I worry that releasing the vaccine too soon could invoke irreparable anti-vax paranoia.
I'm all for the vaccine and I would be willing to participate in the trials (if they had space available). But I don't think that it's a good idea to just rush this vaccine and start immunizing the herd en-masse with the risk of serious disease in 1 in 100k people (for example). Now that would really feed the anti-vax paranoia.
What, specifically, are those mechanisms that you think prevent symptoms but allow for infection and spreading?
Additionally, even if this mechanism exists, why would we care? The goal is not eradication of the virus at a molecular level, it is stopping the disease at a societal level. Stopping the disease is accomplished when symptoms are prevented. Because symptoms kill people, not the virus.
There is an incredible misunderstanding about the difference between a disease (i.e., symptoms caused by a virus) and the virus that causes it. Viruses, bacteria, spores, and other toxic material is everywhere constantly. COVID is the only virus I can think of where we have been actively scared of the mere existence of the virus.
> What, specifically, are those mechanisms that you think prevent symptoms but allow for infection and spreading?
Asymptomatic spreading. Kids do it with SARS-CoV2 all the time.
In other words: the body sheds virus (cells fabricate virions), but the immune system reaction doesn't cause symptoms.
> Additionally, even if this mechanism exists, why would we care?
Because the virus will keep spreading and killing people as long as < 70% of people remain infectious.
In case the vaccine doesn't prevent much of the spreading, we'd be looking at years before everything is like it was before the pandemic. This is because we're not going to vaccinate 5 billion people in a matter of months all at once (too risky). This will take a while.
Additionally humans would be a reservoir for the virus to evolve in, potentially causing mutations that cause symptoms (years or decades in the future). It wouldn't actually solve the problem in the long run.
You think... a vaccine is going to CAUSE asymptomatic spreading? I think you need to start citing some science here. Things you are saying really aren't making sense.
There would be no reasonable mechanism for a vaccine that prevents infection but somehow still allows "spreading". Either you're sick or your not, the immune system doesn't "prevent symptoms" (strictly: it's the cause of them). This isn't how things work.
As far as "long term side effects"... that's also an extremely rare kind of interaction. Vaccine delivery is extraordinarily safe. I worry that your phrasing is invoking anti-vax paranoia.