Resevation Request from Unvaccinated Guests

[Peter1]

A member of my local hosting community group recently posed a question about hosting unvaccinated Guests.  With her permission to share her post, this is what she asked:

"Well, here is a dilemma. I'm copying a message from a potential guest, in slightly edited form, below. I can't decide which way to go with this request.

 

' ... our family would like to rent your place in August. My brother and his wife ... have chosen not to become vaccinated and I’m hoping we can still rent your place as the vaccination requirements have relaxed. He has had Covid and recovered and she was with him during the entire time. This happened about a year ago. Hope you consider letting us stay at your place. ... '

 

In general, I don't agree with people's decision not to be vaccinated. But should I refuse to host them on that basis? Our apartment is separate from my living area; would unvaccinated people pose a risk to my health, or the health of our neighbors? I'm really unsure about this and would appreciate your advice! Thanks, in advance."

 

Many in our group suggested to go ahead and accept the request since her living space is separate from the Guest's. 

 

Would you accept this request and would your answer be different if this was a shared living space situation?

[Sarah977]

@Nanxing0  I know what vaccines do.

Saying something is a known fact or that it is common knowledge doesn't make it so. 

Covid is not a disease where natural immunity gained by having had the virus protects you better than the vaccine.

" Natural immunity varies according to the person and the germ. For example, people who have had the measles are not likely to get it again, but this is not the case for every disease. A mild case of an illness may not result in strong natural immunity. New studies show that natural immunity to the coronavirus weakens (wanes) over time, and does so faster than immunity provided by COVID-19 vaccination."

That quote is from John Hopkins University.

What you say is common knowledge is false. There have been no studies which prove that contracting the virus offers more immunity than the vaccine. Quite the opposite.

[Nanxing0]

@Sarah977 If you look into the actual study you will find the quote to be very misleading. I'm pasting the original words from the John Hopkins website for it:

Johns Hopkins has conducted a large study on natural immunity that shows antibody levels against COVID-19 coronavirus stay higher for a longer time in people who were infected by the virus and then were fully vaccinated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines compared with those who only got immunized. (The results of the study were published in a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association on Nov. 1, 2021.)

It can be found here https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-natural-immunity-wh... BTW I can't find the source of your quote.

Basically, the study compared between natural immunity+vaccine against those who only had natural immunity. And the study was so fishy that they recruited patients who have had the disease 90 days before their first shot, knowingly that the natural immunity protection decays over time. Of course the result will be that people have had both would have better protection than one of them, not surprising. This only tells us that natural immunity and vaccine are not mutually exclusive and anyone can get the vaccine to improve the protection regardless of if he/she has had the disease before. It DOES NOT prove the vaccine does better job than natural immunity -- if you want to prove this comparison should be between the vaccine group and natural immunity group AT THE SAME TIME. As of the current knowledge we have, protection from both natural immunity and vaccine decay over time -- that is why it is suggested to have the booster. 

Don't get me wrong. As a scientist I am not anti-vaxxer and I suggest everyone to get the vaccine if possible. However I do respect those who have valid concerns and decide not to take it at this time. At the end of day, the vaccine itself is quite experimental, with the technique never ever implemented by human in the history, that we have no knowledge about its long term side effects. At least for now, we know that it has a fairly high chance of causing myocarditis (which is already conceded by CDC) and doctors are even expecting a wave of myocarditis in the near future caused by the vaccine. There are just too many types of misinformation out there.

[Debra300]

@Peter1,

Since the rental is separate from the host's living space, I would rent to the guest if asked.  In my opinion, unvaccinated guests staying in my rental pose no more of a health risk than when I am mingling with folks at the grocery store, bank, DMV, etc.  It is my responsibility to ensure that I personally follow public health guidelines regarding social distancing, masks, and hand washing, to reduce the opportunity for viral transmission.  The vaccine hasn't changed those guidelines, and they work regardless of vaccination status.

[Elaine701]

We've had a number of unvaccinated ideologically "anti-vax" guests. We're fully vaccinated and have little fear, but all I can say is that so far, each of them have been rather ideal guests, despite our ideological differences. 

This was before the "covid passport", which made it quite difficult to enter Spain without proof of vaccination. I believe that requirement has now been removed. 

Having said all that, we do perform rather extensive cleaning and sanitizing following each guest, whether they've been vaxxed or not. So, for us, it's not a consideration. 

[Karol22]

I certainly don't see the problem at this point. However, I understand this is unfortunately a divided issue. Depending on how your booking season is going, you've probably already hosted a fair number of unvaccinated guests and have not known. You've probably also went to the grocery store, mall, gas station, etc, etc... all of which have accommodated plenty unvaccinated patrons in the same space. I don't think filtering unvaccinated guests are worth it, especially if you're not occupying the same space at the same time.