The "vaccine" doesn't stop the spread nor make the virus less virulent to the person who contracts it. It's personal protection. Like masks. I've never advocated for anything else.
BTW, I've chided you about excessive boosters too and now there's peer reviewed evidence that they are counter productive.
Originally Posted by Ducbutter
I disagree with the first item in bold text. There's plenty of evidence that the vaccine did reduce the probability of severe disease, hospitalization and death.
As to the second item, there's plenty of evidence that the boosters
were effective. Scroll down to the graph, "Rates of COVID-19 Deaths by Vaccination Status in Ages 18 and Older," here.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...vaccine-status
Compare the blue and green lines. The fatality rate from COVID among those with updated boosters was substantially less than the fatality rate for those who were vaccinated without updated boosters, up until February of this year. Yes, the fatality rates converged in late February and March. But how many people are dying from COVID now?
Not nearly as many as before. At this point weekly deaths are comparable to the average flu deaths during an average to somewhat-worse-than-average year:
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...aths_select_00
Like I said earlier, we're probably arguing about history. Everybody's gotten vaccinated and/or gotten the disease. We've all got some immunity. And yes, there are risks associated with the vaccines. And yes, there's evidence that the bivalent vaccine isn't that effective in preventing infection from the latest Omicron variants.
I got the bivalent booster in October, 2022. I most likely won't get another unless the CDC recommends it. Right now, the CDC is not recommending another bivalent booster, although recently it provided guidance that people over 65 and with pre-existing conditions consult with their doctors.
I'll link again to Guido's summary of this issue,
https://www.icpcovid.com/en/news/7-m...ing-successive
There are three studies which noted higher rates of infections in people with more boosters, one of which is discussed in your OP. None noted a higher level of severe disease in people who were boosted. Two looked mainly at younger people, who were unlikely to die of COVID. And the evidence is strong that the bivalent booster "remains very protective against severe disease" for the elderly, presumably including severe disease caused by the XBB variants.
This looks like a nonissue to me. There won't be a significant number of excess deaths or hospitalizations caused by people getting too many boosters. Rather, the boosters saved lives.